The Woes of Rose
by WhatsTheTimeMrWolf
Summary: Rose's father was never very good with advice, but there were three things he'd told her before she'd left for Hogwarts for the very first time; don't get in Slytherin, don't drink and de-gnome, and don't, under any circumstance, befriend a Malfoy. \Scorose/. Disclaimer: I own nothing.
1. Chapter 1

**The Woes of Rose: **_**Rose's father was never very good with advice, but there were three things he'd told her before she'd left for Hogwarts the very first time; don't get in Slytherin, don't drink and de-gnome, and don't, under any circumstance, befriend a Malfoy. **_

**A/N: Hello all, I'd like to introduce you to my new baby- A Scorose ship, set to sail. Basically, I'm aiming to write the characters how I see most realistic, across the timeframe of Hogwarts. I may go a little beyond, depending on how fast I move through their schooling years. Don't expect too much intense drama- because as I said, I'm making it realistic. Aaaanyway, I hope you like it- leave a review if you do.**

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In the Weasley family, if you weren't loud, you weren't heard. It was, therefore, most unusual for Rose to be quiet, especially with Hugo tugging at the sleeve of her robes every other second _'I wish __I__ was going to Hogwarts' 'This is so unfair' 'Promise you'll write?'_. Her parents, however, had spiraled too far into their debate about her father's questionable driving ability to notice _'You give way to the __right__, Ronald'... 'Those round-a-whatzits are a death trap, I tell you, 'Mione'... 'You're supposed to stay __in__ the white lines"_.

For the record, Rose thought he was horrific, and she wouldn't be surprised if the rest of London thought so too.

They weaved their way through the fine mist shrouding the platform, dodging trolleys carrying trunks and cages. She ducked as rogue quaffles and the likes were tossed over their heads, and almost fell twice as cats of every colour darted and weaved between their legs. Rose craned her neck in an effort to locate her cousins, but it was in vain- there was far too much steam, and far too many people- it was merely impossible. She could barely even hear herself think over all the tearful farewells of parents, the excited chattering of students, and the disgruntled hooting of their owls.

"Where are they?" Rose asked, anxiously, to no-one in particular.

She wondered whether Albus was as nervous for his first day of Hogwarts as she was, but tossed away the silly thought. This was _Albus_ she was talking about; he could get worked up about the different shades of inkwells at _Scrivenshaft's_ given the right circumstances.

"Not to worry, Rosie-roo. You know how your Uncle Harry is; he'll have them here quicker than a Star-gazer 700, with time to spare," Her father grinned, clapping her on the shoulder.

He steered away from a group of particularly rowdy boys; they appeared to have set a snitch loose, and were having a jolly time trying to snatch it back. Rose grinned; she always thought boys were such idiots -maybe with the exception of Al- and it didn't help that these idiots reminded her of her own daft cousins (James in particular).

Any nervousness that had left her during her amusement, returned as the mist cleared, and she spotted a sign overhead that read _Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. _She eyed the bright red steam engine with a queasy feeling in her stomach; _What if I don't get Gryffindor? What if nobody likes me? What if I get such bad marks that I get expelled? _Her thoughts churned over every worst case scenario she could imagine, _Ooh, everyone would be so disappointed!_

Just as she was working herself up, her brother yelled;

"Look dad, I seem them!" Hugo stood on the trolley, and pointed his licorice wand ahead of them, to the left, just before the very last carriage. Rose looked over and, sure enough, there stood the five members of the Potter family. She sighed in relief at the sight of her favourite cousin, Albus, who, as she'd predicted, looked just as nervous as she felt.

"Hi," Albus said, sounding quite relieved himself- she couldn't help but grin at how alike they were, and greeted him back.

"Parked alright then?" Her dad asked her Uncle Harry,"I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to confund the examiner."

"No, I didn't," said her mother "I had complete faith in you."

Rose bit down a grin; now that Albus was there, her parent's arguing didn't seem quite as annoying.

Lily and Hugo had started talking, rather animatedly, about which houses they were going to be sorted into when they started Hogwarts. This apparently struck a chord with Albus, who looked a little paler than usual.

"You alright, Al?" She enquired. Albus made a noise akin to a squeak.

"Dunno. What house are you going to be in?" He asked.

"Gryffindor, I hope. Though, Ravenclaw doesn't seem so bad," she replied. Over the noise of the platform, Rose heard her father's call of;

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you. But no pressure."

Which, despite her mother and Aunt Ginny's words -_"He doesn't mean it"-_ made her stomach twist with a level of anxiety that matched the look on Albus' face. Her dad's words brought her back to something he'd said as he loaded her trunk into the boot of the car.

_Rosie, _he'd started, _Hogwarts is- well- it's...full of many different types of people, and- well it's very..and things can get very...Merlin's fragrant cleats, I knew we should have left this part to your mother! She's always been good at this- granted, she's good at everything...you know how bad I am with advice...[Dad_, she'd whined, _just tell me_]_ Right, well...just- don't get in Slytherin...err...don't...drink and degnome -Fawkes knows that window will never look the same again- and please, Rosie...never, under any circumstances, befriend a Malfoy..._

The only words that she'd really paid attention to at the time, though, were the words about Slytherin...

"Don't worry Rosie, you'll get Gryffindor for sure," her brother grinned, jerking her back into the present.

Hugo's words didn't surprise her; while Rose had always been a realist like her mother, her brother had inherited the same optimism as her father. But she supposed you need to be optimistic in order to support the Chudley Cannons; a quidditch team that was slightly less than dreadful on a good day.

"I won't," Albus worried his lip "James said I won't, he said-"

"Honestly, Albus, I _don't_ know why you listen to him," She interrupted "Besides, maybe it wouldn't be so bad being in a different house. Mix it up a bit," but even as she said it, she was unsure. Would her family _really _be upset if she wasn't a Gryffindor? What if _she_ was in Slytherin? What if her dad wasn't joking, and they disowned her? Where would she go?

"Maybe." Albus conceded, but he looked about as convinced as she felt.

Meanwhile, something further down the platform had caught the gaze of the adults. Rose saw a family of three; a brunette woman and a blonde man, talking to their son. The boy looked about her age, with a pointed face, pale hair, and an air of faux confidence which really wasn't very convincing at all.

"So that's little Scorpius," Her father murmured under his breath, "Make sure you beat him at every test, Rosie. Thank god you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake!" Her mother chastised, "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," replied her father, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

Rose didn't really understand what he was talking about, but as she looked at the boy, she thought; _he doesn't look so bad, _and if the confused look on Albus' face was anything to go by, he didn't seem to think so either. Before Rose could ask her father what he meant, James appeared, looking harried.

"Hey," he said, "Teddy's back there. Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

Rose bit on her lip to stifle her giggles; James was such a twit. An oblivious twit, too, apparently- the rest of the family saw this coming from a mile away. He continued on after not getting the astonished reaction he so obviously desired, but her mother pulled her away from the throng before she could catch the rest. As it turns out, she could still hear James from where she stood a little way away, anyway.

"Now, Rose. I want you pay attention in class. Take as many notes as you can- no distractions, please- and, for heaven's sake, keep away from James and Fred. I don't want any detentions, especially-" Her mother ranted, but she was interrupted by her father.

"Oh, give it a rest 'Mione- It's only her first year. A few detentions might do her some good," he grinned and ruffled Rose's hair. Her mother made a muffled 'hmmph' sound in the background, but conceded, "Just don't miss me too much, Rosie-Posy."

She grinned back.

After a tearful hug by both of her parents, some last minute reminders from her mother, and wave to Hugo, she got into one of the carriages, her luggage in tow. Albus joined her, looking remarkably less nervous, for whatever reason, and they watched as students hung out the window; yelling their last goodbyes. Many of their heads- both students and parents alike- turned towards her Uncle Harry.

"Why are they all _staring_?" demanded Albus, as they looked around at the other students. Rose wasn't entirely sure herself, but her unease was broken by the voice of her father.

"Don't let it worry you," He said, "It's me. I'm extremely famous."

Rose and Albus giggled, though they were still a bit confused, and more than a little curious. However, the doors had all been snapped shut, and the train was starting to move. They stuck their own heads out of the windows to wave a final goodbye to their respective families, and found some of their nervousness had given away to excitement. Once their families were out of view, Albus and Rose shared a look; they better find a compartment before they were all full.

They searched down the aisle, sticking their heads into compartments, until they came to one with two familiar figures inside. Rose let out a sigh of relief; she had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she seemed to forget that the Scamander twins were starting Hogwarts this year, too. They ducked into the compartment, stashing their carry-on luggage in the luggage rack above them.

Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were quite familiar to Weasley gatherings. In fact, Rose considered them almost honorary cousins of sorts. She settled herself next to Lorcan, whose nose was buried in the textbook _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, by Newt Scamander. Lysander, sitting across from his brother, noticed her gaze and grinned.

"It's the revised addition, only just gone to print. Granddad managed to get us one," He looked at her expectantly.

Lorcan might have been as ensnared by Blibbering Humdingers, and Umbugular Slashkilters as his rather...eccentric...mother, but Lysander wasn't nearly as convinced. He spent more time trying to impress others, or rather, as James seems to think, her. She merely grinned back at him, and pulled out her own textbook- _Magical Theory_, by Adalbert Waffling.

It was going to be a long train ride, and Rose had reigned in the temptation to read her textbooks all summer. She wanted something to keep her busy on the way there, and it really didn't surprise her that Lorcan had the same idea.

Albus' anxiety had dissolved entirely into excitement, and he and Lysander started a rather intense game of exploding snap. Rose had only just begun on page three of her textbook, when unfamiliar voices sounded outside the compartment door.

"-pewter? My mother always said there's no cauldron better than a brass cauldron. Mind you, she can be a bit daft, especially once she's gotten into a bottle of _Goblin Made_" Came a distinctly girlish voice; it's pitch being 3 tones above tolerable (in Rose's opinion, at least).

"I rather like the idea of self-stirring, myself. I wouldn't want to get splashes all over my new robes," said a drawling, bored voice.

A girl with thick, dark plaits ducked her head into the compartment "Oh, good. Some more first years. Mind if we sit here? My name's Holly Zeller, and this is Scorpius Malfoy."

Rose blinked in surprise.

Malfoy. That name seemed oddly familiar, and once again her father's voice rung in her ears.

_"Don't, under any circumstance, befriend Malfoy,"_

But as Rose looked up at the blonde boy before her- the very same one from the platform- she wasn't very sure why. He didn't seem so bad at all.

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**A/N: So that's it for the first chapter; and I tell you- I certainly don't mind a review or two.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the fantastic reviews so far guys. Remember that I'm completely open to constructive criticism- in fact, I almost prefer it over completely praising reviews, so don't be shy. Just a reminder that my story will probably be very fast paced, and it will span over a large period of time (roughly about 10 years), so if you're expecting a great deal of depth to every year at Hogwarts, then you're reading the wrong story.**

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_Previously:_

_Malfoy. That name seemed oddly familiar, and once again her father's voice rung in her ears._

_"Don't, under any circumstance, befriend Malfoy,"_

_But as Rose looked up at the blonde boy before her- the very same one from the platform- she wasn't very sure why. He didn't seem so bad at all._

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_First Year; Part 2_

"My name's Rose. Rose Weasley," she addressed the two figures, "This is my cousin; Albus Potter, and our friends; Lorcan and Lysander Scamander."

She gestured to each of them in turn. Albus was looking rather apprehensively at the newcomers, and Lysander didn't look any more happy at their intrusion. Rose, however, was adamant to give them a chance- maybe they could even make some new friends. Holly grinned and took the spot next to Rose, leaving Scorpius to sit next to Albus, opposite her. Scorpius' gaze flickered between them, with raised eyebrows.

"A Weasley _and_ a Potter- it must be my lucky day," drawled the blonde boy, "Father will have a right laugh."

Holly started giggling as if it were the funniest thing in the world, but Rose didn't find any amusement in it at all. Neither did Albus or Lysander, by the looks of it, but Lorcan was embedded too far in the world of Wrackspurts and Heliopaths to notice.

There was something mocking about his words that made her take her father's advice more seriously. He didn't seem like the sort of person she'd want to spend more time with than absolutely necessary, and Rose felt herself rather disappointed that Scorpius wasn't nicer. She really wouldn't have minded making a few new friends on the train, just in case she didn't get sorted into the same house as the boys. Rose just hoped that her dorm mates were more friendly.

After the introductions had been made, Albus and Lysander had returned to their game -but not without throwing some dark looks at the new comers. Rose tried to ignore them, and continue where she left off in her textbook, but she just couldn't concentrate. Instead, she found herself looking out of the compartment window at the fields and paddocks, watching as the foliage become slightly more wild as the train progressed.

_Whatever did we do to deserve such a welcome?_ She thought, glancing over at Scorpius, who was too busy trying to look bored to notice. As she observed him covertly, she realised that his shoddy attitude wasn't exclusive to them. In fact, as Holly Zeller explained to him the benefits of real dragon hide leather as opposed to counterfeit, he had taken to examining is nails, ignoring the girl in which Rose assumed was his friend.

It was like this for much of the ride; Lorcan reading, Albus and Lysander playing, Holly talking, and Scorpius not appearing particularly interested in what anyone had to say. Scorpius did, however, perk up at the mention of quidditch, claiming that though the Holyhead Harpies -Rose's team of choice, not least because they were a team of entirely talented women- had a 'rather decent form', they didn't match the 'absolute precision and integrity' of the Falcons.

Rose still hadn't quite managed to get back into the flow of reading after that, and so it was a pleasant distraction when at about 12:30, there was a clattering outside the compartment. The door slid open, revealing a kindly, if not slightly frazzled looking woman with a dimpled smile "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Before Rose could blink, Scorpius was already up, sickles in hand. Rose fished around in her robe pockets for some coins of her own, but she found none. _Of course_, she thought, _my first ride to Hogwarts and I can't get anything from the trolley. I really should pay more attention to mum. _It was typical of Rose to forget to put any coins in her pocket. She might be smart, but sometimes Rose lacked a bit of common sense.

Rose was startled out of her thoughts by Scorpius' voice.

"No need to despair, Weasley," He sneered "There's plenty to go around."

Rose blinked as she realised that, though the trolley had already left, it seemed like half of it had been left behind. Scorpius, who was leaning lazily against the doorway, was flicking a spare knut in the air, a smug look on his face.

"No need to thank me."

"Oh," she said, stupidly. She couldn't decide whether she should do just that, or frown at the sharpness of his tongue. It was, however, a better attempt at decency than he'd achieved so far, and if there was one thing her grandmum Weasley had taught her, it was the importance of manners. So, as she picked a chocolate frog out of the messy pile of sweets, she turned to him and said;

"Thanks, I guess."

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The sky outside the compartment window had gone a deep purplish colour, and the train seemed to be slowing down. Rose, having been the only one already in her robes, had had the compartment to herself for the past 10 minutes or so, whilst the others changed. It wasn't long, however, before a rather excited Lysander burst through the sliding door, followed by the others.

"I can't believe we're finally here! At Hogwarts! I can finally toss my quaffle around without exploding one of mum's snorcack horns!" He said, doing a little jig in celebration.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so enthused, Ly." Rose commented, grinning. Lysander merely spun around, and plopped down next to her, with a rather exaggerated sigh of contentment. Lorcan, who hadn't spoken the whole train ride, sat opposite her and said, in a low, solemn voice:

"It's the Gulping Plimpies, of course- they're everywhere these days. Everyone reacts differently. Mum thinks they make him more excitable than most, though..."

Rose bit down her amusement at the airy voice of her friend, but it seemed some people weren't quite as inclined to do so. Scorpius scoffed slightly from his seat, and sent a look to Holly that clearly stated what of thought of the slightly barmy Scamander brother. Rose thought it was rather rude, but didn't comment on it; she may not want to be his friend, but she certainly didn't want to be his enemy, especially since they hadn't actually got to Hogwarts yet.

Before Rose could enquire as to what a Gulping Plimpy actually was, a voice echoed throughout the train, making Rose jump slightly: _"We will be reaching Hogwarts in 5 minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."_

Suddenly, all the nerves Rose thought she'd left at King's Cross emerged with a vengeance, and she knew, just by looking at Al, that he was feeling the same way. The 6 first years quickly packed away all of their belongings, and joined the throng of students in the train corridor. When the train had stopped, they pushed their way onto the small, dark platform to the sound of a familiar, booming voice.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Hagrid stood, as large as ever, waving the first years over with one hand, and carrying a large lamp with the other, "C'mon, follow me- don't be shy."

They followed Hagrid down a narrow, dark path, and Rose gasped along with the rest of the first years as the of the turrets and towers of their new home came into view. Hogwarts was even more enrapturing than she imagined, and she knew, by looking at the others around her, that she wasn't the only one who was impressed. Even Scorpius seemed to be speechless, which was a feat of its own.

They were lead to the edge of dark, ominous looking water body, where a collection of small wooden boats bobbed on the surface.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, gesturing towards them.

Rose grabbed Albus' wrist, and was pleased when they were joined, once again, by the Scamander twins; she didn't know how much longer she could've tolerated Holly's incessant chatter and Scorpius' pompousness.

"Everyone in? Righ' then- FORWARD," Hagrid boomed.

The boats started gliding across the water silently, and Hogwarts slowly became larger and more imposing as they got closer to the cliff on which it stood. They all ducked as they sailed through an opening in the cliff face, towards a harbour at the end of the dark tunnel. It seemed as if they were under the school itself, and Rose found that it wouldn't surprise her if they were; it was all just so magical and surreal.

Once they reached the shore and they came to a halt, all the first years dismounted their boats. A few of the lucky ones had managed to remain dry, but many sported wet socks and hems. One small, mousy boy had the misfortune of losing his balance and taking a tumble into the lake, much to the amusement of the others. Rose, however, took pity on him and fixed him with a drying charm; a common, simple household spell that she'd observed so many times from her mother that it really didn't surprise her when she got it correct the first time. The boy had thanked her, red-faced, and shyly introduced himself as Darnell Crockford. Together, they made their way up a flight of stone steps, rejoining the crowd before a pair of large, oak doors.

"Yer all here?" Asked Hagrid, making sure nobody had been left behind.

When he was satisfied they were all accounted for, he raised his large fist, and knocked three times. The doors opened, and behind them stood a tall, humbled man; his kindly, familiar face mottled with thin scars, and a smudging of dirt. Nestled under his arm appeared to be some sort of green, bulbous pot plant that Rose had never seen before. Behind her, Rose heard some snickers.

"Here they are, righ' as rain." Hagrid addressed.

"Thanks, Hagrid. Sorry about this, lost track of time. Just finished repotting some Gurdyroot in greenhouse 10...never mind that," He said, as eyes travelled across the crowd. He straightened up and cleared his throat before continuing, "My name's Professor Longbottom, Deputy Head Master. If you'd follow me, please."

They made their way into the castle, across the flagged stone floor, and past lit torches. Rose was admiring the astonishingly high ceiling when Lorcan leaned closer to her.

"Excellent for warding off Gulping Plimpies, Gurdyroot." He whispered, nodding in approval. _Of course_, Rose thought, _only Lorcan would think of that in a situation like this._

They stopped near a thick door on their right. It barely concealed the buzz of voices behind it, which presumably belonged to the rest of the school. Instead of taking them through there, however, Professor Longbottom instead crowded them into a small chamber off to the side.

"Now," He started, "As some of you may already know, Hogwarts is divided into four houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin- each of which are governed by a unique set of traits, and each of which have produced great witches and wizards. Before the feast can begin, each of you will be sorted into whichever house fits you best,"

"You will share classes with your housemates, sleep in your house dormitory, and share a house common room. While you are here, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will take them away. At the end of the year, the house with the most house points will earn the house cup."

"Anyway, the sorting ceremony will begin shortly, so...look sharp."

Neville, -having appeared uncomfortable maintaining the air of formality- punctuated the end of his speech by clapping his hands together, and sending them a large, reassuring grin. He left the chamber, only to return no less than 5 minutes later, instructing them to form a line.

The doors to the Great Hall opened, and the first years walked through. Rose was so nervous, that as she walked through the doors, she worried that her wobbly legs would cause her to collapse and embarrass herself in front of the whole school.

She busied herself by staring in wonderment at the high ceiling, which reflected the same brilliant, dark sky she'd just seen outside the large oak doors. She took in the four house tables and spotted her various cousins, most of whom were in Gryffindor. Louis, having been the only Weasley not in Gryffindor, was sitting at what she presumed was the Ravenclaw table with some other second years.

She watched as Professor Longbottom placed a stool, and a funny looking old hat at the very end of the Great Hall. For a second, there was utter silence. Then the rim of the hat separated, forming a wide mouth in which the hat started to sing. Rose tried to pay attention to the lyrics, she really did! But instead, her mind echoed the familiar words _'Don't get in Slytherin'_ over and over again, and she was only able to tamper them down in order to listen to the sorting itself.

"When I call your name, you will sit down and put the hat on your head. Once you are sorted, please take your seat at your house table." Said Professor Longbottom, "Ackerly, Gordon."

A small blonde boy approached the stool, and propped the too-large hat on his head, nearly covering his eyes. A moment later, the hat bellowed "HUFFLEPUFF." A table to the right burst into cheers, and the boy scurried over to join them.

"Blackthorne, Artemis."

"SLYTHERIN."

This time it was the table furthest to the left that erupted in noise.

"Bletchley, Karina."

"SLYTHERIN"

"Crockford, Darnell."

"HUFFLEPUFF."

"David, Bastien."

"RAVENCLAW."

"Devlin, Darcy."

"HUFFLEPUFF."

"Dunbar, Cybele."

"GRYFFINDOR."

"Entwhistle, Paige."

"HUFFLEPUFF."

"Flint, Osarius."

"SLYTHERIN."

"FLINT, PHYLLIDA."

"SLYTHERIN."

"Gordon, Marlene."

"GRYFFINDOR."

"Gudgeon, Eunice."

"HUFFLEPUFF."

Rose lost focus after 'Hastings, Gwendolyn', as her mind consumed her by replaying horror stories of ending up in Slytherin, being disowned...nowhere to go...

She was once again startled out of her thought, this time by a familiar the familiar name;

"Malfoy, Scorpius."

The hat sunk onto to his, and after a moment, it called;

"SLYTHERIN."

Rose thought, as the table to the far left of the Great Hall erupted into cheers, that she wasn't really very suprised by this, even if the hat did take a touch longer to sort him than the others so far.

A short time later, after 'Perkins, Roseanne', her cousin made a little squeak at the sound of his own name being called. Rose gave him a little shove of encouragement, and watched him perch the hat atop his messy, black head. He went pale, but after a short moment of deliberation, the hat yelled out a confident "GRYFFINDOR."

She could see him deflate with relief, as he approached the far right table, which seemed to be a little bit more raucous than it was for the other new Gryffindor first years.

Rose paid more attention from there on out, watching as first 'Scamander, Lorcan' was sorted into Ravenclaw, and then 'Scamander, Lysander' was sorted into Gryffindor. She clapped along with the house tables for her friends, and once 'Stebbins, Emeric' was sorted into Slytherin, Rose's nerves bubbled to a crux.

"Weasley, Rose."

With a swoopy stomach and jelly legs, Rose approached the stool, and thrust the old hat onto her head. It was so large, she had to stop it from slipping over her eyes. For a moment, there was nothing. Then, Rose jumped as the hat started to speak.

_"Hmmm, another Weasley,"_ it said, _"Plenty of courage, yes. A good head on your shoulders, much like your mother..."_

_"Please, please, please be Gryffindor,"_ She thought.

_"Gryffindor, eh?"_ The hat murmured, _"I can see why...but no, not quite right for you. ...plenty of ambition, Slytherin may be a better choice..."_

Rose felt her stomach sink to the floor. Oh, her father would be so mad! And Rose didn't want to be in a house where the only person she knew was Scorpius Malfoy...

_"Hmmm, well then. If you're sure,"_ The hat conceded, _"Better be- RAVENCLAW."_

The nearest left table exploded into cheers -and a catcall from Louis- and she made her way towards the other Ravenclaw first years. Rose felt herself swell with relief and a bit of disappointment. On the up side, she was with Lorcan and Louis, and most certainly not in Slytherin. On the down side, she wasn't in Gryffindor either, and she wasn't with Albus.

After 'Whithy, Brevis' was also sorted into Ravenclaw, and Holly was sorted into Slytherin, the Great Hall was called to order. An older woman in elaborate robes of dark green velvet, with a strict expression, and a tight grey bun had stepped up to the podium at the front of the Great Hall. Rose had seen her quite a few times at various family gatherings, and only now just thought how odd it was that she was familiar with 3 Hogwarts faculty members. The Great Hall descended into silence.

"Good evening, students, and welcome to Hogwarts. Before we begin, I wish to remind you that the Forbidden Forest remains out of bounds. Only those who wish to risk expulsion should enter," She paused, her eyes darting towards the Gryffindor table, where James and Fred sat, before continuing.

"Quidditch trials are to be held in the second week of term, second years and above only. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should contact Monsieur Wood. That is all for now, you may eat."

At the end of her speech, there were gasps as food seemingly materialised out of nowhere. There was roast beef, pork chops, sausages, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy, to name a few. Rose felt like she'd never eaten so much in her life, and by the time dessert appeared, she found she was too full to eat any of it.

As the banquet drew to a close, the remaining food disappeared, and students started getting to their feet. Louis guided Rose and Lorcan towards a burley looking prefect, calling "First years, follow me."

As they wandered past portraits, up many stairs, and along corridors, Rose felt herself feeling rather overwhelmed. Oh, she was definitely going to get lost.

They finally found themselves at the top of a spiral staircase, in the west wing of Hogwarts. Before them was a door with no door handle, but rather a bronze eagle knocker. Burley boy explained that they would have to answer a riddle in order to enter, and though Rose was not particularly perturbed by this -she loved a good problem to solve- she heard a few groans from behind her. Burley boy answered a riddle as demonstration, which hadn't thought was too hard at all.

The doors opened to reveal a wide, circular room with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling painted with stars. There were tables and chairs, and so many books lining the walls that Rose even wondered if the Ravenclaws ever needed to visit the library. But most strikingly, beside the doors that the female prefect indicated as the entrance to their dormitories, there was a large, beautiful marble statue of a woman that Rose vowed to find more about later.

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**A/N: Review, my pretties ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks once again for the fantastic reviews; they've all been so wonderful, despite the fact that I feel this story is a bit boring.**

_Previously:_

_The doors opened to reveal a wide, circular room with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling painted with stars. There were tables and chairs, and so many books lining the walls that Rose even wondered if the Ravenclaws ever needed to visit the library. But most strikingly, beside the doors that the female prefect indicated as the entrance to their dormitories, there was a large, beautiful marble statue of a woman that Rose vowed to find more about later._

_First year: Part 3_

Rose had managed to snag the bed closest to the window, which overlooked the sprawling grounds of the castle. Her trunk, which had already been in the dormitory when she arrived, still lay open at the bed's base. Rose had left it that way after pulling on her pajamas, but she found that she wasn't quite ready for bed yet, and the other girls -just as excited as Rose- hadn't gone to sleep either.

"...Er, hello," Said a rather timid voice from behind her. Rose turned around to spot a rather rotund girl, with blonde pigtails and a shy smile, "My name's Merryweather. Merryweather Higgs."

"Oh, well I'm Rose." She replied, "It's a pleasure to meet you, I suppose."

The girl flushed slightly, and Rose wondered why. She didn't need to wonder long, though, as tall girl with dark hair and a rather long face gave her an appraising look.

"Rose?" The tall girl asked, rather excitedly "As in Rose _Weasley? _Of _the _Weasleys?"

"OhMyGod, if only I'd known earlier that I'd have a _Weasley_ in my year, my _dorm_...-oh, mother and father will be ever so excited- ...never a more honourable family...such a surprise..." She rambled, before perking up as if she'd forgotten something, "Oh, my name's Hildergarde Lafarge, by the way, but you can call me Hilder. Or anything you want, really. I don't mind. It doesn't bother me. Not at all."

Rose blinked in confusion, her mouth moving soundlessly as she tried to make sense of this girl's rambling. What was so great about being a Weasley? Why were people being so odd? She new, from rare excursions to Diagon Alley -her family liked to keep to themselves as much as possible- that they got a few stares from time to time. However, being so young she hadn't really thought much of it- in fact, most of the time she hadn't even noticed. Now, however, things were getting a bit odd, and she was getting rather confused. She'd have to write to her parents about it later.

However, she pushed aside her wonderings to pay polite attention to her other 2 dorm-mates; A short, mousy girl called Gwendolyn Hastings who seemed a bit rough around the edges, and a strawberry blonde by the name of Lenore O'Hare, who was much more meek and mild. In fact, the muggleborn girl was so overwhelmed by everything that most of the time, she barely managed a squeak.

After all their introductions were over, they talked excitedly amongst themselves, babbling over which subjects they couldn't wait for, which ones seemed boring, and which ones should be illegal, before they all settled into their very first sleep at Hogwarts.

* * *

The next morning, Rose got up early. She was merely too excited to stay in bed, and she reasoned that it would be more practical to leave herself some time in case she got lost. She wasn't the only girl in the dorm with this idea though, so her and Lenore made their way out of their dorm together.

Rose's fear of getting lost dissipated as they entered the common room and spotted a silvery blonde head at one of the tables- they wouldn't get lost if Louis was there to guide them. Her cousin noticed their arrival and dog-eared the page he was reading, before stuffing his book in his bag, and sending them a grin.

"Didn't think I'd leave my favourite cousin to fend for herself, did you?" He grinned.

"Favourite? You better not tell James that, he'll hex your hair purple." She retorted.

"Purple looks good on me." He shrugged, and Rose pouted slightly. Unfair Veela genes; he could make anything look good. Beside her, Lenore reddened slightly.

Louis lead them down the spiral stairs, to the first floor, and through a couple of corridors that Rose tried to memorise. Rose had started to get overwhelmed, but luckily they ended up in familiar territory; the Entrance Hall that Rose remembered from the day before. They entered the thick oak doors that lead to the Great Hall, and the three of them sat together at the Ravenclaw table.

Despite the fact that not many people were up this early, the table still had a great selection of food, and Rose sorted herself out with some jam and toast. She was just finishing her last bite, when she heard someone calling her name. She looked over shoulder to find Lysander, Albus, a familiar boy by the name of Frank Longbottom, and two other boys she didn't recognise entering the Great Hall.

"Morning, Rose." Grinned Lysander, "Haven't been giving my brother a hard time now, have you?"

Lorcan had joined Rose and the other's in the middle of Rose's breakfast, but he didn't seem to notice Lysander's teasing. Rose merely raised her eyebrows, and said "Of course not. I'll save that honour to you."

Lysander laughed, and Rose managed to talk to Albus for a bit before they headed off to the Gryffindor table. Not for the first time she was saddened by the fact that they would not be sharing a common room, nor would they be sharing a dining table with her best friend. She could only hope that they could find other times to hang out together.

To keep her mind off those thoughts, she decided to compose the letter that she'd promised she'd send to her parents.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I'm sure Neville has already written to you- and don't deny it, I know you lot gossip more than a bunch of 3rd year Hufflepuffs- but I just wanted to tell you that I got sorted into Ravenclaw. I hope that doesn't disappoint you. The girls in my dorm are very nice, but sometimes they give me looks I can't quite explain. Is there something extra special about being a Weasley? _

_Love from,_

_Rose _

Professor Longbottom had handed out their time-tables whilst she was writing, so once she'd sent her letter off with one of the school owls, Rose took a peek at her classes. She was disappointed to find that the only class she shared with the Gryffindors -and consequently Albus- was History of Magic. Every other class was shared with the Hufflepuffs, except for Astronomy, which was with the Slytherins. Any other sad thoughts were soon dissipated by excitement, and Rose found herself dragging Lenore and the other girls to their first classes much earlier than necessary.

* * *

A week later, Rose would have found herself quite content if it weren't for their first ever flying lesson looming over her head. Being in the Weasley family, it would have been a crime if Rose hadn't flown before, but she just wasn't comfortable doing it front of all the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. She was a decent flyer; she just wasn't interested in an audience.

This wasn't the case with Hilder, though, as apparently she came from a long line of French Quidditch players. She also liked having all eyes -scratch that, all _senses_- on her. Honestly, even if she didn't try to suck up to her or flirt with any male whose last name was Potter or Weasley, she still would have found the girl irritating.

As they walked across the grounds towards Monsieur Wood, Rose felt like using one of the school brooms to thwack the girl on the back of her head.

"...four World Cups in a row, with my mother as chaser...would've been five if Kramer hadn't fowled her with a bludger...of course that's where my talent comes from..." The girl tittered along to Merryweather, who was absorbing the whole thing like blonde sponge.

Monsieur Wood called them up to stand alongside a broom, and Rose found herself between Lenore and a brunette Ravenclaw boy by the name of Quincy Quigley. Lorcan stood opposite her next to Darnell Crockford, and another Hufflepuff boy whose last name was Smethwyck (she didn't know his first name, everyone just called him Smethy).

The flying lesson seemed to go without a hitch, with the exception of poor Darnell, who'd somehow managed to shoot forward straight at Monsiuer Wood, who'd been bending over to assist another student in their technique...

Rose still cringed at the image...

Despite this, she had managed to call her broom 'up' amongst the first 10 students; in fact, she managed to do so before Hilder, and her and Gwendolyn had a bit of a giggle about this later on that night, before she snuggled into her bed that night.

Over the next few months, her classes went quite well. She found that, though the work wasn't what she'd call easy, she was so interested in the content of her courses that it didn't bother her to spend any extra time reading up on her course work. She even went the extra mile and skimmed some textbooks from more advanced years; she found that it gave her a bit of perspective, and helped her understand the more difficult parts of her subjects. It really was no wonder to anyone that she soon found herself at the top of her classes.

She was so happy with her progress at Hogwarts that she'd forgotten all about Scorpius Malfoy, until one of their practical Astronomy Lessons. She'd sat next to Lorcan, like she usually did, when Professor Sedgwick fluttered through, and tutted at them like they were a bunch of undignified children.

"It has come to my attention that some of you find my practical lessons a place for gossip and chatter. It appears these arrangements will not do...not at all, no- students, you will need to sit with someone unfamiliar. I want work to be done." She snipped, and Rose groaned along with most of the class.

It wouldn't have been so unbearable if the woman hadn't produced a roll of parchment containing a new seating arrangement, where she was placed next to Scorpius. She knew this wasn't a coincidence; she could see the Professor's twisted smile as she watched Rose edge towards the seat next to Scorpius.

Who would've thought the teachers got their jollies off by pitting students against each other. Well, Rose was determined not to give anyone a show; no matter how rude Scorpius was, she'd remain civil to him. She'd always be the bigger person.

"Weasley, I didn't expect to be reveling in your delightful company so soon," He sneered, "One train ride with you was certainly enough."

Rose frowned at him, but stuck to her earlier resolve.

"That's mean, Scorpius." She replied, and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. The glint in his eye said that he was merely having a bit of fun, and it struck her that he reminded her a bit of James; he got a kick out of teasing people. Rose couldn't help but wonder whether he meant anything he said.

"Or maybe you're just too nice." He said, leaning towards her a touch.

"I wasn't sure there was such a thing." She sniffed slightly, and pulled out a piece of parchment. They needed to get started on this star chart if they were going to finish it on time.

"Of course there is." He quirked an eyebrow, "You should be careful, Weasley. Bad people take advantage of _nice_ girls like you."

* * *

Scorpius' words had stuck with her for a while; they were incredibly deep coming from twelve year old, and even more so coming from a Malfoy -they probably had a lot of experience taking advantage of people, after all. They clung to her mind fiercely as she travelled home for Christmas, and she had to wonder if what he said was true- what if she _was_ too nice to people? What if people started walking all over her? She sighed. She hated how she'd only just met this boy, and he was already wrapping her mind around his pale fingers.

Seeing her parents and Hugo at the station was a happy distraction; being their first child to go to Hogwarts, her parents -particularly her father- had made a shockingly loud show of welcoming her back. It made her giggle, as she wasn't quite at that stage of being embarrassed by every breath her parents took. She was also just too happy to see them to care.

She'd thought her parents would have been a little bit upset that she wasn't a Gryffindor, but if they were, they didn't show it. They'd expressed their pride to her in the letter they'd returned, and her mother had also told her that they had '_a few thing s to explain' _when she got home. Rose suspected this was about her odd treatment at Hogwarts, and hoped it wasn't anything bad.

* * *

That night, her parents sat her Hugo down in their cosy dining room; her mother grabbed her hand, and started to speak. It was obvious that her parents had decided that her father should never be the one to give her a talk ever again.

"Rose," She began, "There are some things that we were involved in -your father and I, your uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, the other adults- that we were going to tell you when you were older, when we thought you could understand..."

"But we see now that that was a bad choice. We should have said something before you left for school, that it was wrong of us to let you discover things from the other children. Just know that we weren't trying to keep anything a secret. It's simply not a topic for young ears, you see..."

And then her mother told her everything- well, almost everything; Rose got the distinct impression that she was only being told a very censored summary of everything that happened so long ago. There was a bad man, who killed Uncle Harry's parents, and took steps towards power and immortality that would make Grindelwald blush. Her family -especially Uncle Harry- was tied explicitly to his demise.

Rose tried to wrap her head around this, but all seemed like some horrific fairytale that she was completely detached from. And why hadn't they told her earlier? Rose would have understood this if she weren't so upset that they sent her into Hogwarts, where people knew more about her parents than she did. She thought it was very unfair that everyone else was privy to this information but her and Hugo, their own family.

And look at Albus! He didn't know anything about his father being the Wizarding World's Savior! How would he feel when he found out? She had no doubt that he would have been having a much harder time, especially considering he looked so much like his father.

Rose was so upset about this that it wasn't until Christmas day, when she got her very own Star-gazer 700, that she was able to start talking to her parents again. She'd been ignoring them since they'd talked to her, partly because of her feelings of betrayal and humiliation at not knowing about her own parents, and partly because she was so busy trying to make sense of all the buzzing thoughts in her head. Flying around her backyard was just what she needed to clear her mind.

* * *

As Rose found herself at Hogwarts for her second semester, her parents' talk made her hyper-aware of everything around her. She noticed that the students often whispered behind their hands as she passed them in the halls. They smiled at her in an over-accommodating way, and laughed loudly at things she said that weren't necessarily funny. In her first semester, she'd gained friends from many houses and had been proud of her popularity. She'd naively thought that people liked her because of who she was as a person. Apparently this wasn't actually the case.

If she was anything like James she might've enjoyed the attention. But she wasn't James, and she wasn't happy.

Nevertheless, she continued being nice.

**A/N: Alrighty, chapter 3 is done and dusted. I read over this when I was partially dead from being so tired, so sorry if it doesn't flow/there are grammar mistakes.**

**I told you this story was moving fast, so the next chapter will probably be the beginning of second year.** **Please drop me a review if you like the story so far, if you think it needs to be improved, or you think it's utterly crap. I really don't mind either way ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Once again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed. It really makes my day :)**

* * *

_Previously:_

If she was anything like James she might've enjoyed the attention. But she wasn't James, and she wasn't happy.

Nevertheless, she continued being nice.

_Second Year_

First year had gone by quite slowly for young Rose, who had barely wrapped her head around her parent's fame. Not to mention Rose had been right about Albus; her poor cousin hadn't known a thing about his father's glory, which in hind sight was rather odd. If the people at King's Cross were anything to judge by, her Uncle Harry attracted more attention than all the other famous witches and Wizards combined, and how Albus hadn't noticed that before was beyond her.

Nevertheless, as Rose begun her second year at Hogwarts, she was simply glad to have Lorcan and Lenore beside her. Lenore was one of the rare few who didn't try to overindulge Rose with smiles and fake laughs, or greatly detailed stories designed to impress her. Whether that was because the muggleborn had known nothing about Rose's family when they'd met, or because the girl was so painfully shy, Rose wasn't sure. She was just glad to have her around.

As she sat beside them at the Ravenclaw table, she saw Albus and Lysander approaching them. She was happy about this, because even though she'd caught up with them during the summer holidays, she hadn't spent nearly as much time around them at Hogwarts as she would've liked.

"Going to try out for quidditch, Rosie-roo?" Albus asked, and Lysander snickered. Rose frowned at the nick-name her father usually used, but ignored it for now. _Was_ she going to try out?

"I don't know." She answered truthfully, worrying her lip. She'd be playing against her cousins if she did, with people she didn't even know, and that was quite daunting for the 12 year old. She'd never played with anyone outside her family before, discounting the Scamanders and the Longbottoms of course.

"Come on Rosie, we're trying out," Lysander said, with an encouraging grin, "You should go for chaser, you're good at that. Not that you're bad at the other positions. You're great at them too-"

"I'll think about it." She said, cutting Lysander off. He seemed to be getting quite flustered. She didn't know why they were hassling her so much- if she was so great, wouldn't they want her off the team to remove the competition? Oh well, who knew how boys' minds worked anyway?

The boys returned to their seats, and Rose set down her toast, too busy considering quidditch trials to continue eating. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about joining the Ravenclaw quidditch team; she was a Weasley after all. It would practically be a faux pas if she didn't.

However, considering she wasn't in Gryffindor, she had other things to think about too. What would happen when Gryffindor and Ravenclaw went head to head? Would her parents cheer for Ravenclaw, or their own house? If Ravenclaw won, would they truly be happy for her, or would they secretly be a bit disappointed?

Rose's head spun with questions, each more daunting than the last, and she had to wonder whether this was why Louis never tried out for the team- he was a spectacular seeker after all.

Nevertheless, between this point and the day of the trials, Rose would decide that she would, indeed, try out for the Ravenclaw team, if only for the fact that it was doubtful she'd get in. She was sure that they wouldn't want a lowly second year on their team, and she knew she'd regret not trying if she didn't.

* * *

Rose stood in the middle of Hogwart's grassy quidditch pitch on the warm Saturday morning of try-outs. First years and those not in Ravenclaw house had been shooed from the pitch, and the eligible quidditch hopefuls had been grouped according to the position they were trying for. The Ravenclaw Quidditch team was being assembled by their new captain; Verase Stebbins, a 6th year girl who shared a remarkable resemblance to her brother Emeric, a boy in Scorpius' dorm.

Apparently, Verase made the decision to keep the players who hadn't graduated last year, meaning she only needed a beater and a chaser. Unsurprisingly, Rose chose to try for the chaser position, as she really didn't have the build of a beater, nor the desire to float around with the primary goal of causing injury to others.

Besides, Lysander was right about her chasing abilities; she was good.

Despite this, Rose wasn't sure she was quite good enough. There were plenty of older, more able looking Ravenclaws who were trying out for the spot, and the odds were against her. Rose wasn't particularly perturbed by this though; she didn't mind if she didn't make the team. The only person who she was really content on competing with was herself, and she knew that playing for the school would be different than from her family. Here, if she made a mistake, they wouldn't just brush it off and make it best out of 5. Here, her teammates would be very disappointed with her, and they'd lose their chance at the Quidditch Cup.

Nevertheless, when Verase instructed her to, she mounted her Stargazer and flew up next to the other existing chasers; Bruno Smethwyck and Chris Cornfoot. Bruno tossed her the quaffle, and then they were off.

Rose zoomed through the air, tossing the quaffle back and forth between them. The beaters (they'd already picked their newest beater, Travers Hicks) aimed their bludgers at them, and 3 of the other chaser hopefuls acted as members of the opposing team, shoving and jostling, trying to get their hands on the quaffle and improve their own chances of getting picked when it was their turn.

Rose, used to playing rough with her family, was not disturbed by this, and relaxed herself into her role. She was usually a rather strung-up girl, but flying was as familiar to her as breathing. She worked with Bruno and Chris, and together they managed to get 5 quaffles through, their keeper only managing to save one.

Her smaller frame, though more susceptible to the rough play of the opposing chasers, had allowed her to slip by the larger players with ease. She also suspected that her size was part of the reason why she got so many goals; underestimating players was a dangerous thing, and from the way the Ravenclaw keeper had sized her up, he'd done just that.

Therefore, it was no surprise to anyone who was watching when Rose got the position. There might have been some more skillful flyers and more efficient shots, but none of them had meshed as smoothly with the other chasers as Rose, who understood the importance of team work. There was no point being an amazing flyer with a great arm when you were a quaffle hog.

Verase, Bruno, and Chris gave their congratulations, along with beaters Travers Hicks and Antoine Du Champs, their seeker Brion Clearwater, and their keeper Harrison Cadwallader.

Rose Weasley had, despite her hesitance, made the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. She hoped she didn't make any mistakes, and she certainly hoped that her family would be cheering for her whole-heartedly, even when they saw her play against her cousins and their favourite house.

* * *

Rose wasn't a social leper, and she certainly didn't intend to miss a party anytime soon, but if she'd finished all her homework and there wasn't any social occasions to celebrate, Rose would often find herself enjoying the solidarity of books. Which was why, one winter's evening, Rose found herself shrouded in-between the musky shelves of the Library. However, this wasn't entirely because of her desire to read. Not only was she trying to get away from the hubbub her cousins were making about her being on her house team, she was also hiding from one Tiberius McLaggen. He hadn't left her alone since he'd introduced himself to her after the news of her success got around.

_"Thought I'd find you here," he'd said, his countenance haughty, as he'd swept his golden curls from his bright blue eyes, "I'm Tiberius by the way. Tiberius McLaggen, though you already knew that of course."_

_She hadn't, actually. All she had been able to do at the time was stare at him incredulously as she'd thought; __Merlin, how many arrogant blondes can one castle contain?_

Rose went back to her reading, remembering the constant hum of his voice as he'd droned on and on about himself. He was particularly adamant about his own Quidditch prowess that he'd inherited from his father, and how he had been planning on trying out for the Gryffindor team, which had been set to occur the day after Rose's own try-outs . Rose had been secretly pleased when he hadn't made the team, and even more enthused when both Albus and Lysander had.

Rose was interrupted from her thoughts by some harsh, grating laughter coming from a few aisle behind her. She peeked out from behind the shelves, marvelling that Madame Pince wasn't there to chastise whoever it was, and then decided to investigate its source.

When she reached the aisle, she saw three figures. She recognised two of them as Phyllida and Osarius, the Flint twins, and the third as little Darnell Crockford. Rose frowned as she saw them playing keep-away with his wand, throwing it back and forth, and holding it out of his reach. Rose hadn't had much experience with bullies, but the sight of the Flint twins truly made her stomach turn. People like them were awful, and Rose didn't hesitate to make her presence known. Maybe now was the time to address Scorpius' words, and filter whom she was nice to, and to whom she wasn't.

They hadn't noticed her, so it was easy for her to take them by surprise and snatch Darnell's wand away from them. She handed it back to Darnel with an uneasy smile. 2nd year seemed too early to start making enemies, but she wasn't going to back out now. She straightened her posture, and flipped her hair over her shoulder in a cheap imitation of her Aunt Fleur when someone mocked her accent, and turned to face the twins.

They both had their wands out, twisting them between their fingers with a sneer on their faces. They apparently didn't take kindly to someone spoiling their fun.

"Look at this, Lyddy, little Weasley's come to save her boyfriend," Said Osarius, earning a cackle from Phyllida as he regarded Rose with bared teeth, "I think we should teach her a lesson."

His countenance unsettled her, but despite how scared she was, Rose didn't back down, regardless of how much as she wanted too. Darnell was such a sweet boy who didn't deserve to be treated so horribly.

It was because of this that she couldn't be held accountable for the fantastic bat bogey hex she produced that would make even her Aunt Ginny weep in pride.

Her Aunt Angeline later told her that Uncle George even set aside a minute of silence to commemorate the loss of goody-goody Rose.

* * *

Towards the end of the year, the second years were given the option of picking electives for their third year, which Rose was particularly excited about. Unlike many of the other people in her year, she'd really enjoyed all her subjects- even History of Magic, with that monotonous Professor Binns. Albus said this was because she aced all of her classes, but Rose thought it was because she just found the subject matter very interesting. It seemed she was more like her mother than she thought.

The second years could chose from; Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, A Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, and Arithmancy. She knew enough from her mother that Divination and Muggle studies were out of the question.

She wasn't sure which one would be more interesting (or less boring, depending on how you looked at it) out of Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, so she decided to flip a Galleon to help her decide, noticing that many of the other second years were also using alternative routes such as this to come to a conclusion.

However, she didn't need coin flipping to decide that Care of Magical Creatures was a definite 'yes'.

Rose had always been fascinated by magical creatures. _Real _ones, that is (there still wasn't any evidence of gnargles, after all). Which was why, even though she knew she wasn't supposed to have favourites, she'd always preferred her Uncle Charlie.

As a young girl she'd always been intrigued by the stories he told about the dragons he came into contact with, and even most of her picture books and toys revolved around dragons. Uncle Chralie would send her pictures of all the new dragons he and his team came across during their travels. He'd even let her name some of them, and in return, she'd draw him pictures of her favourites.

It was a relatively odd fascination for a little girl, but nobody in her family seemed to mind. In fact, they encouraged it.

Her mother loved that Rose was so interested in things that weren't gender stereotyped, and her father, along with the other adults, thought it amusing that she loved Uncle Charlie, who '_kept the dragons company'. _Because, of course, dragons must have felt lonely too.

Her love for dragons escalated into a more general love for magical creatures as she grew older, and so it was no surprise that a thirteen year old Rose, after sending a letter to her parents and her Uncle Charlie, ticked the box for Care of Magical Creatures as one of her electives for third year, along with Arithmancy as her galleon had depicted.

Also, Rose grinned to herself, Care of Magical Creatures came with the added benefit of being an unlikely choice for one Scorpius Malfoy.

She hoped.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you liked it :) I know it had no Scorpius in it, but that's because I'm trying to make him look a bit less bitchy, and since they rarely share any classes, it's a bit difficult. Also, I'm trying to develop the real antagonists, as you could probably see :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I Just realised I haven't included a disclaimer, so if you don't already know, I actually don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't still be living with my mother. Anyway, thanks for the sweet feedback. I have a had a request for more Scorpius, so I'll try to fulfill that...maybe...just promise not to kill me if he's still a bit of a bitch, yeah?**

* * *

_Previously:_

_Also, Rose grinned to herself, Care of Magical Creatures came with the added benefit of being an unlikely choice for one Scorpius Malfoy. _

_She hoped._

* * *

_Third Year._

Rose had breathed a sigh of relief as she had watched her brother, Hugo, and her cousin, Lily, get sorted into Gryffindor. For a second there Rose had been concerned that her father would not have had a single child in his old house, and Merlin only knew how he'd have reacted if that had happened. Not that he'd become an unstable meth addict or anything, it's just that he'd always had an immense amount of pride in Gryffindor, and it didn't take a genius to realise having a child of his in that house was a secret dream of his. Rose had been sure he'd been more nervous about his son's sorting than Hugo himself.

Nevertheless, she'd clapped when he'd sat down at the table on the other side of the great hall, only slightly disappointed that no other members of her family had yet joined her and Louis in their Secret Society for the Non-Gryffindors.

The only family members not yet attending Hogwarts were Roxanne and Lucy, who would be starting next year. Rose still had some hope that Lucy would embrace her inner Percy, and pull out some of his more irritating Ravenclaw qualities when the sorting was nigh. However, she wasn't going to have her expectations too high. Despite the fact that Molly Weasley II was an incredibly intelligent, rule abiding 7th year who was found more often than not whispering Ministry-level Runes translations seductively to her fellow head boy and boyfriend, Callum Davies, she had still found herself a snug position in Gryffindor house. How Rose got into Ravenclaw, therefore, she had no clue. It wasn't as if Rose wasn't brave or anything.

Rose couldn't deny, however, that some secret rebellious part of her brain was glad that she hadn't fallen into the Weasley stereotype of being a Gryffindor. By being sorted into Ravenclaw, Rose was starting to believe she'd started to forge her own path. That people didn't see her as just another Weasley, but a different entity from the others. That she wasn't just another blur in the sea of redheads.

It occurred to Rose that, despite a part of her wanting desperately to please her father, she had really starting to love being a Ravenclaw. And, as she settled back into her dorm room that night, ready for her third year at Hogwarts, she did so with a smile on her face.

* * *

"Leave me _alone_!" Rose wailed, unable to contain herself any longer. Tiberius had been hassling her to accompany him to Hogsmead since the beginning of the year, when they'd been informed that they were finally able to go. He had been really starting to wear her down, but apparently he couldn't take no for an answer.

"You'll say yes eventually!" He jeered, with a confident grin.

"I won't!" She said, trying to sound firm, but instead coming across more like a child throwing a tantrum (minus the passive-aggressive foot stomp of course- she still had some dignity).

He seemed to think she was just playing a game with him. As if she was playing hard to get. What he failed to grasp was that guys like him -arrogant, presumptuous, self-absorbed- truly made her stomach turn over with nausea. She'd always preferred the company of nice boys who made her laugh, not condescending boys who could talk about nothing but their own achievements. Therefore, she was fairly sure she wouldn't ever take him up on the offer. Ever. The Chudley Cannons would be more likely to relinquish their title as worst Quidditch team in the Northern hemisphere than her agreeing to go on a date with 'Bow-down-to-me-but-not-before-you-polish-my-shoes ' McLaggen.

She silently seethed annoyance as she continued walking down the corridor. Having as many cousins as she did, she'd developed many ways to deal with many different personalities; Victoire's snobbiness, James' teasing, Fred's inability to take things seriously, Roxanne's ten-a-day tantrums, and her Aunt Audrey's constant yodelling about her 1000 piece bunny collection, to name a few. Yet, somehow, she still hadn't found a way to make Tiberius tolerable.

Even Scorpius was more bearable to be around than Tiberius, because although he made his little snide comments in passing, he didn't actively seek her out every hour of the day. She knew, however, he'd be sad to note that he was losing the 'who can shove their head up their ass the farthest' contest, but maybe if she was in a good mood, she'd give him a participation certificate.

Rose had sighed in relief as McLaggen strutted away, head held high, as if he hadn't been turned down by Rose for the umpteenth time. Rose supposed she should feel bad about the way she snapped at him, but she couldn't say he didn't deserve it. She had also been fairly sure that the only reason he was interested in her was because she was a Weasley, which she had confirmed when she'd seen him giving Dominique similar attention.

As she continued musing about the many different potions she could poor into Tiberius' goblet when he wasn't looking at dinner, she was interrupted.

"Why so flustered, Weasley?" A voice had come from behind her. She turned around to find Scorpius leaning against the corridor wall. _Of course_, she thought, _Of course he'd show up now when I'm already more irritated than my father in a room full of Pride of Portree fans._

"Rest assured, Weasley, the ginger population is safe. With a recessive hair colour like that, he's bound to crank out some more redheads to add your collection-"

"Shut up." Her face reddened.

He always had something to say about everything, and the most annoying part was that he never said anything truly horrible. He just insinuated things, which infuriated her, because it made it feel as if she was getting upset over nothing. That she was just being petty.

Merlin, he was such a Slytherin.

"Ooh," He taunted, flicking his wand between his fingers absent-mindedly, "Not so friendly."

"Well, I doubt you'd be in a great mood if you had to listen to 'why the Quidditch world would dwindle if not for the McLaggens' on repeat for the past 3 months." She retorted. "He's honestly the most insufferable person I've ever met!"

For some reason, her criticism of McLaggen seemed to please him, and he gave her a look which she couldn't even begin to decipher.

"And here I was, thinking that title firmly belonged to me." He said, with fake disappointment.

Though his tone wasn't overtly playful, she could definitely detect some level of jest. It was a weird, but not completely unpleasant feeling to share even a mild joke with Scorpius. It was just reminded Rose that though he was horribly sarcastic to her, Scorpius Malfoy had another side to him, which she'd never seen before. She briefly thought about what it would be like to be around him and not trade barbs, but dismissed the thought immediately. She had to remind herself of her father's words about befriending him, and that although her dad was a fairly useless advice giver, he'd seemed so adamant about this particular piece of advice that Rose couldn't help but think it must have some merit.

"Don't flatter yourself." She muttered, and stalked off down the corridor in the opposite direction in which Tiberius had left.

* * *

Rose was hoping that she wouldn't have to speak alone with Scorpius for the rest of the year, after that incredibly touching moment in the corridor. But alas, in fate's true fashion, she found herself in his presence once again, though not in a way that she would've expected.

She'd been walking back from her last class of the day, Care of Magical Creatures, which -contrary to last year's prediction- was an elective she usually shared with Scorpius (though he hadn't been present in class today, for whatever reason), when she heard a noise. Due to her naturally occurring curiosity, inherited alongside the Weasley genes, Rose quickly decided to take detour. As she got closer, she noticed the sounds appeared distinctly human, and distinctly distressed. She rounded the corner of a particularly winding corridor, and stopped at what she saw.

A blonde boy lay on the floor, struggling against the binds on his arms and legs. He seemed quite ruffled, with cuts and bruises marking different parts of his skin, a bloody nose, and an arm that really shouldn't have been at that angle. As she took a closer look at the boy's features, it soon became apparent to Rose exactly why the Malfoy boy hadn't shown up for class.

"Scorpius?" She asked, softly, for she didn't know whether the people that had done this were still around.

Rose fished around in her robe pocket to find her wand. She wasn't exactly proficient in healing spells by any means, but the third year knew a few things, once again learnt from her mother, that might have been able to help him. She would do whatever she could, and then help him to the hospital wing which was thankfully on the first floor. He might've been an unpleasant boy most of the time, but Rose wasn't the kind of person to leave anybody in a position like this.

She cast the counter-curse to the bindings, so that his arms and legs were freed. She tried to ignore the hiss of pain he made as his arm contacted the flagged stone floor of the corridor.

"Be still, will you?" She hissed, and he glared back at her. He seemed terribly embarrassed to have been caught in this position by her in particular, and he just _would not stop moving_.

She had to repeat herself more firmly before he actually listened, and then she was able _scourgify_ some of the blood from his face. She managed to get rid of most of the abrasions that she could see, but unfortunately, she knew she wouldn't be able to heal his broken arm. That's where her healing abilities ended.

Surprisingly enough, throughout this, they had both remained silent. She'd expected Scorpius to play up his injuries, maybe moan a little bit about his impending death, but for a boy with particularly horrific looking broken arm, he hadn't made nearly as much of a ruckus as she'd thought he would. Maybe he was simply embarrassed into silence, or maybe he just wasn't as much of an attention seeker as she'd originally thought. Either way it was making her uncomfortable, so she decided to speak.

"Who did this?" She asked, in part because she was genuinely curious. She didn't know much about Scorpius, but she did know he quite proficient with his wand, so for him to be disarmed and incapacitated...

"Don't act like you don't know, Weasley." He snapped. Rose could only offer him a confused look.

"Actually, I don't," She said, annoyed that he was being so cryptic. Rose wasn't sure why, but this seemed to irritate the blonde boy even more.

"For a smart girl, you sure are oblivious, aren't you?" He sneered, "Some of the more unsavoury people might call you _self-absorbed._"

"Self-? _You're_ calling _me_ self absorbed? Just because I don't know the finer details of your life-"

"Oh come off it, Weasley," She was interrupted, "Haven't you noticed how truly _delighted_ Hogwarts is to be graced with a Malfoy? Haven't you noticed the names, or the jeers? Why, it's no secret, Rose, and if you haven't noticed, then you're more self-centered than I thought."

"You know what? You can walk to the infirmary yourself," She snapped. She stalked down the corridor, not sure whether she was more incensed at him or herself, before calling out "Oh, and _you're welcome!_"

It wasn't until later that night, as she lay in bed, that she truly thought about what Scorpius said.

* * *

The thought of people hurting Scorpius because he was a Malfoy didn't settle well in her gut. It went against everything she'd ever been told, to discriminate against anyone for any reason. Having had a mother like Hermione Granger, who frequently went on hunger strikes for any number of Equal Rights campaigns, for beasts and beings alike, seemed to have highly influenced the way she saw others. And that, although Malfoy could be an utter prick most of the time, he'd never said anything foul about her mother or Lenore considering their muggleborn statuses. He really wasn't a carbon copy of his father, at least in personality.

It also didn't occur to her that maybe she wasn't the only one in the school struggling with her family's identity. Maybe Scorpius Malfoy was just as troubled as she was, trying to deal with the expectations of his family name. He was a prat, but if there was anything she'd learnt from her vast family, it was that everybody deals with their troubles in different ways. Some people ignored them, some faced them head on, and some turned into sizeable bitches who annoyed the kneazles out of everyone around them.

* * *

**A/N: Well, this was a shorter chapter than usual, but it went a bit deeper, and there was a large portion dedicated to everyone's favourite Malfoy. If you liked it, drop me some positive feedback. If you didn't, flame the crap out of me.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks again for the sweet reviews/favs/follows (you know who you are). If you have anything you want me to add into my story at some point, just drop me a hint, and I'll see what I can do :)**

* * *

_Previously:_

_It also didn't occur to her that maybe she wasn't the only one in the school struggling with her family's identity. Maybe Scorpius Malfoy was just as troubled as she was, trying to deal with the expectations of his family name. He was a prat, but if there was anything she'd learnt from her vast family, it was that everybody deals with their troubles in different ways. Some people ignored them, some faced them head on, and some turned into sizeable bitches who annoyed the kneazles out of everyone around them. _

* * *

_4th Year:_

It was the first match of the season, and Ravenclaw had won. Rose knew she should be elated. Yet, for a reason she desperately wanted to ignore, she wasn't. At least not completely, anyway.

The truth was, the moment Hugo got into the Gryffindor, Rose knew it would be more difficult to play than usual. She knew her parents would watch their match, and she also knew, deep down, that although she was their child too, it was Hugo they would be cheering for.

She knew that, although they would congratulate her for their victory, there was no denying the disappointment they would be feeling that it wasn't Gryffindor that had caught the snitch instead. That it wasn't James, the Gryffindor captain that was high-fiving his team, and making promises of a victory party in their common room.

It wasn't that her parents were bad people, although that is quite obvious. It was that Gryffindor would always hold that special place in their soul, which would not be shifted an inch by the girl in blue, no matter how much she wished it would.

Sometimes she thought it might be comforting to talk to Louis about it because after all, he must know how she felt, even though he wasn't on the team. However, lately the boy had been rather distant, with both her and his other friends. Rose had been worried, but not nearly as worried as her friend Lenore, who still hadn't quite gotten over her rather large crush on the boy.

Rose found herself drawn through the castle and into her common room with the crowd of excited Ravenclaws, many of whom clapped her on the back in congratulations before moving on to the other team members. She couldn't quite get herself into the partying mood, though this most likely would have been different if it were Hufflepuff or Slytherin that they had defeated.

Instead, she dislodged herself from the pack, prepared to make her way back into her dormitory and finish her Herbology project. However, she changed her mind when she saw the blonde head of one Louis Weasley dart out of the common room. She decided to follow him, hoping that he might be able to give her some advice on her predicament.

What Rose hadn't expected was that she was to be giving him the advice instead.

As she'd caught up with him, she noticed that he looked...forlorn...for a lack of a better word.

"What do I, Rose?" He'd asked, slightly panicked, when he noticed her tailing him.

They were in one of the many secret corridors of Hogwarts, where nobody would find them, and she could tell by the look on his face that he was on the precipice of telling her something important, something big.

"I just- I tried to ignore it, Rose. Believe me, I tried so hard!" He fisted his hair, "I hoped it would go away... I just want it to _go away_! I want to- I want to tear it out of me-"

Rose blinked, and tried to make sense of what she was hearing- after all, this couldn't be Louis Weasley, Veela King, breaking down before her. It was a heart shattering sight for Rose, who, despite being 14, was still rather young to be handling something like this. After all, she was fairly sure she'd known what he was insinuating from the moment he started to speak -she was an intuitive girl, and had guessed at it long ago- and although she wanted to gather him in her arms, all she could offer him was a squeeze of his shoulder as he continued.

"I don't want to be who am, Rose!" He wailed, more panicked than before. Rose took a deep breath before she spoke, trying to find the right words. None of them would come to her, though, so instead she whispered:

"You're a Weasley, Louis," She said, feebly, "Whoever you are, Louis, you're always a Weasley.."

He laughed, without humour, but with something akin to terror, because what he said next was what he'd been trying to say from the very beginning.

"I'm a gay boy, Rose. A fag. A queer. _Bent._"

He'd gone from frantic, to a deep sadness and resignation, as if saying the words out loud had made them truer, had made them real. Rose knew she was the first person he'd ever told, but she couldn't find herself to be flattered. Not when she could only stare at the texture of the flag stoned wall behind him, unable to meet his eyes, for she was afraid of what she'd see in them.

"I want to be _right_, Rose. I want to be fixed!" He tried to catch her gaze with his, despairingly.

When he spoke next, he was so quiet that Rose had to strain to hear him, even though their hide-out was deathly silent

_"Please fix me." _

Their only purpose was to echo through Rose's soul for as long as she'd remember them, because they both knew how useless those words were. There were some things magic couldn't do. So when she spoke next, she spoke with a sadness that echoed is own.

"You can't be fixed, Louis, because nothing has been broken. And you can't be righted, because nothing has been wronged."

And as flimsy as it was, the words Rose had were the only things she could use.

She's hoped that Louis could help her, but all she'd found was that he was no more comfortable in his skin than Rose was in her own.

She would find no answers here.

* * *

Louis had saddened Rose. She couldn't help him, as much as had wanted to. It was only 2 months later, with the promise of Christmas and the impending Hogsmeade weekend, that her spirits returned to her. Because, for the first time ever, Rose was going on a date.

Her father's colouring had given her pale facial features, and so her only real connection to make-up up until this point had included an eyebrow pencil, and a mascara wand. This, according to Hildergarde, was not acceptable. Hildergarde had argued that, because the winter weather had robbed Rose of the ability to wear anything other than a coat, scarf, and jeans, she had to make up for it in any way she could. This meant that Rose's hair and face had been temporarily on hiatus whilst the girl primped her to the nines. Despite the fact that she was sure Darnell Crockford wouldn't mind in the slightest what she looked like, only that she actually showed up, she went along with the bizarre girl's wishes anyway.

Just because she was neither girly nor shallow, it didn't mean that she didn't enjoy looking pretty from time to time. And she sure did look pretty, if Darnell's reaction was anything to go by. The boy, who'd looked almost as nervous as he had when he'd asked her out in the first place, stammered out a sweet compliment, before allowing her to take his arm.

Together, they had made their way down to the village. Rose smiled at the sight of the thatched roofs covered in brilliant white snow, and the strings of glowing, enchanted candles littering the streets. Doors were decorated with wreathes, and charmed ornaments glittered on the trees, singing and complimented those who passed by. Hogsmeade always looked like the epitome of Christmas at this time of year, and it never failed to put a smile on Rose's face.

Looking to her right, she noticed that Darnell had been smiling too, which made her grin all the more. There was nobody she would have rather spent her first ever date with than a nice boy like him. And a boy who also seemed to understand her taste, too, as he steered her away from Madame Puddifoots, towards The Three Broomsticks.

It was unfortunate that the weather stopped them from touring the village, but the atmosphere of the pub made it worthwhile. It was warm and inviting as they entered, thick with the headiness of butterbeer and the clamour of raucous laughter. As she slid into a booth and Darnell went to get drinks, she let the bubble of Christmas anticipation soak through her mind.

She spied James, butterbeer in each hand, charming the girls under each of his arms. Fred watched on in incredulity, and maybe a bit of envy, though it wasn't as if he didn't have any admirers himself.

Albus was in an intense conversation with Lysander and another Gryffindor boy, exasperated hand gestures and all. The only topic that could produce that sort of reaction from the typically reserved boy was his favourite band, _The Wicked and the Wraiths. _Apparently, Lysander didn't share the same opinion has him. Rose also noticed that Dominique seemed to have taken Tiberius up on his Hogsmeade offer, as she was currently snogging the thestrals out of the boy, who was two years her junior.

She smiled as Darnell returned, and slid into the booth. Though he couldn't be considered a man, he certainly wasn't a boy by any means, and she found herself entranced by his chocolate coloured eyes, his unsure smile, and his clumsy gait. After all, Rose had always thought there was something incredibly endearing about a shy boy, even if he wasn't nearly as awkward as he used to be.

She giggled at his jokes, and as he told her things about himself, she shared some things of her own. He scooted closer to her, and she let him. When he leaned in to kiss her -her first kiss- she blushed appropriately. Everything had gone better than she ever imagined- for she always thought a first date, her inexperience would ruin it indefinitely- until she caught sight of a table not far from her own.

Of course Scorpius Malfoy would be there. She shouldn't have expected him not to be. She also shouldn't have expected that he was able to distract her from her date, which had been perfect until this point.

Scorpius Malfoy sat comfortably, with the ever-perky Holly Zeller nestled happily beneath his arm. He looked content, if not a little bored, but Holly looked like she would pass out if she giggled any more.

There was an unpleasant feeling that roiled deeply in her gut, which only deepened when the blonde boy caught her gaze. Rose, unfortunately, found that she wanted to curse the pretty girl, and so the rest of her Hogsmeade trip was spent with Rose ardently avoiding the reason why.

Rose Weasley could not possibly be jealous of Holly Zeller. More importantly, she could not possibly feel anything but annoyance (and maybe some sympathy) towards Scorpius Malfoy.

* * *

Rose and Darnell had started going out steadily since their first date. She would even consider them boyfriend and girlfriend. Despite this, she hadn't managed to get Scorpius out of her head. Although she couldn't imagine dating anyone other than Darnell, she found that she held a twisted sort of...possession over the Malfoy boy. As if his echoic words and admissions across their many interactions had solidified an odd sort of bond, and the thought of him sharing these things with somebody else...

Rose had to stop thinking about things like this. It had been sending her head into a tail-spin for the entire holiday so far. Rose decided to do the one thing that would never fail to clear her head; she took out her Stargazer 700 and headed out of her bedroom and down the stairs.

She halted, however, at the sound of her mother's hushed voice seeping out of her study.

_"...getting out of hand, Ginny..." _She said.

_"... probably just some fugitive...what do you expect me to do?" _Replied her Aunt Ginny, of whom Rose was unaware had visited them.

_"...The Prophet, Ginny...don't let them hush it up...you know what happened last time..." _Her mother replied.

_"...don't think it's a concern...the Ministry can control it..." _Her Aunt Ginny's voice quietened, but her mother, obviously incenced by something, only got louder.

_"Rubbish!" _She yelped,_ "My department has been monitoring the activity of the Bicorns! Either men are becoming more devoted, or climate change is driving them further north! Honestly, can't you see?" _

But Rose had tuned out after that, as she tried to understand what the Fawkes they were talking about.

Her mother was trying to coerce her Aunt Ginny into abusing her position as Senior Quidditch Correspondent for the Daily Prophet in order to stop them from hushing up something. Something to do with her mother's department, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures...bicorns...devoted husbands...

Rose put her head in her hands. So much for trying to clear her head.

* * *

**A/N: Alrighty, it got a bit deep there for a second, huh? Anyway, tell me what you thought of it all, as long as it isn't homophobic or anything. Things are going to be getting interesting from here on out, so stay tuned.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for the feedback, fellas. I'm aware that things got a bit intense, and there was lot going on in each chapter, and I'm sorry about that, but I admit I was rushing a bit so that I could get to the good bits ;) Anyhow, things should start slowing down now that Rosie has reached her OWL year. To make up for all this confusion, I'm giving you lot some Potter/Weasley shenanigans. **

* * *

_Previously:_

_But Rose had tuned out after that, as she tried to understand what the Fawkes they were talking about. _

_Her mother was trying to coerce her Aunt Ginny into abusing her position as Senior Quidditch Correspondent for the Daily Prophet in order to stop them from hushing up something. Something to do with her mother's department, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures...bicorns...devoted husbands..._

_Rose put her head in her hands. So much for trying to clear her head._

* * *

_5th Year, Part 1:_

They were celebrating.

The burrow, which had originally been set up to support their usual summer gathering -a collective celebration to all those who'd had their birthdays during their time away at Hogwarts- had turned borderline turned into a Mardis Gras parade at the news of Teddy and Victoire's recent engagement.

Rose couldn't recount the number of times she'd had to dodge a wet-start firework, or a bejeweled bludger, as the festivities increased in intensity. For once, none of the adults had bothered to try and tame any of the antics that James and Fred got up to, and so the happy couple had somehow found themselves suspended from the roof by an entanglement of surprisingly vicious mistletoe. She watched them share a bashful kiss, and giggled as they were released, tumbling to the floor.

Despite her jealously that somehow Victoire had made a face-plant look fabulous, she was very happy for her cousins (for although he was not related, she still considered Teddy a cousin), and was very proud to note that she would be one of Victoire's bridesmaids. Dominique would, naturally, be the maid of honour, and James had so proudly declared himself the best man, to which Teddy didn't even try to contest.

Through the festive atmosphere, however, there was thin sliver of tension between some of the adults, her mother and Aunt Ginny in particular. It also that appeared that, judging by the countenance and wary glances of the other adults, they'd all appeared to have expressed a different opinion on whatever it was that her mother was so concerned about. Rose, in her naivety, thought that one of the most stupid thing an individual could possibly do was to disagree with her mother, and not only because she could hold a grudge for an eternity. The truth was, her mother was almost always right about everything, especially when they related to the Ministry, and most importantly her own department.

Rose knew that whatever it was that was causing this problem, her mother had the right answers, and there was nothing that Rose longed to do more than ask her about it.

If there was one annoying thing about being a Ravenclaw, it was that there was one thing in the world that Rose Weasley hated, and that was being uninformed. She loved knowledge, -craved it, even- but right now she didn't have it. At least of not all of it.

The trick was how she was going to get around this. She'd tried to find any books on magical creatures in her mother's collection that might have been useful, but it appeared her mother had removed them all. She'd scoured the Daily Prophet every day in the hopes of finding something, but there was nothing. The only route she could think of until she could search the Hogwarts library was to get as much information from her parents as she possibly could, but she knew it wouldn't be easy.

Her mother was not the type to give anything away to somebody as young as Rose, no matter how mature and intelligent the girl was. She'd made a point that Rose and Hugo's childhood was far too important to waste on serious matters; that she wouldn't let her children get sucked into danger the way she had at their age if she could help it. She was also notoriously stubborn, and would not be likely to change that opinion anytime soon.

Her best luck would probably be her father, though it would still be a very precarious task. She was fairly sure her father wouldn't mind them knowing too much about it- at least with Hugo. Her dad could be so protective of her sometimes, it was ridiculous. She would bet her father would sooner sell his soul than let her lose her innocence in any way, shape, or form.

Her Uncle Charlie had even told her once that her father wasn't so different from a mamma dragon when it came to his little girl. _You're his golden egg, Rose,_ He'd said_, there's not a thing in the world that could hurt you as long as he's breathing. _Her father had overhead, and yelled '_Too bloody right', _before downing a shot of firewhisky and accidentally turning the fruit platter into a rather unimpressed gnome.

Rose thought that maybe getting her father drunk could loosen his tongue a bit, and she could only hope that he would be coherent enough to give her proper answers, but she wasn't holding out on it. The only question was how she was going to get around this task, as force feeding her father alcohol whilst he was in the presence of the other adults would be hard, and not to mention largely out of character for a good girl like Rose.

As it turned out, as the night tore on, she needn't have thought so hard about it in the first place. It was the newly engaged couple that turned her father towards the bottle with a certain wedding idea that made even Rose uncomfortable.

They had cleared their throats, and Teddy, who was more than a little tipsy, addressed the family.

"Attention!" He said, slurring the word, "We-" he pointed towards himself and Victoire, as if they hadn't known who he was talking about, "Decided that *hic* _weddings _are for _family_."

He paused for dramatic effect, and the more tipsy adults nodded in agreement, as if this was not already a well known fact. Teddy continued.

"And thusly- and I _know _*hic* this is silly, and don't be upset, now-" He hushed them, despite the fact that the only noises were coming from her father, who was upset over being denied a piggy-back by her Uncle Harry, "-but we're inviting the *hic* ...the Malfoys."

It was a rather uncomfortable statement, but Rose understood why the decision had been made. Andromeda Tonks had died 12 years after the second war, and so the only chance for Teddy to have family at his wedding rested with the Malfoys.

It was a rather sad affair, to be honest. He'd never said much about it, but they all knew Teddy was never the same after his grandmother had died. That he'd felt as if his presence alone was not enough to keep the heart-broken woman in this world. Because, the truth of the matter was, Andromeda Tonks hadn't ever recovered from the death of her family, and so she'd died of a broken heart. The Malfoys had come to the funeral.

Would they come to the wedding?

Rose didn't know, but she hoped they would.

Sadly, this opinion wasn't shared by them all, as it was at this point where Ron Weasley disobeyed his own advice.

He started to throw gnomes.

At least her mother was spectacular at fixing spells.

* * *

Rose's plan hadn't been forgotten. It had merely failed.

She'd approached her father after her mother had managed to cool him down somewhat. Note that 'somewhat' was the operative word here, as the moment she'd opened her mouth to ask him about the mystery, he decided she was the appropriate person to vent to.

"Can you imagine?" He shrieked, "The Malfoys, _here_, near my family, in my bloody _childhood home_! What on earth are those kids thinking? I refuse to let those slimy gits..."

"Dad!-"

"Poison to society, they are. The things they did to us back then..."

"Dad!-" She tried again.

"I tell you, Rosie. If they try anything, they won't bloody know what hit 'em. I just don't see why Bill and Harry have no problem with this, the numpties. It's bad enough that one of them goes to school with you, Rosie. Now they'll be in our _house-_"

"Scorpius isn't so bad." She interrupted, but regretted it as soon as she had said it. She honestly didn't know where it had come from, and her father's face had gone so red...

"Not so bad, Rosie? His father was a death-eater!" He wailed, "And his father before that! Nothing good could come out of that boy!"

Rose had an odd desire to defend Scorpius; after all, he hadn't really done anything wrong. He was cocky and annoying, but never a bully (if anything, he was being bullied). In fact, he was merely the Slytherin version of McLaggen, and she didn't think Scorpius deserved to be lumped in the same category as the rest of the Malfoys.

"That's unfair, dad!" She said, "He's done nothing bad to me at all!"

Her father clenched his jaw in annoyance.

"Be careful, Rosie. Remember what I told you before first year?" He warned, "Those Malfoys are sly and unpredictable, and won't have any of them hurting my little girl. I don't care if he's a kid, he'll have a one way ticket to St. Mungo's-"

"Oh, don't be such a hypocrite! It's not like you follow your own advice, considering you just made a gnome-sized hole in the garden fence!" She yelled, her face almost as red as his, "Besides, this isn't about you or me, dad! This is about Teddy! It's his only chance to have his family present during his wedding...and maybe they've changed! They went to Mrs. Tonks' funeral, didn't they?"

Her father looked like he wanted to retort, but couldn't find anything to say. She knew he was judgmental and more than a bit rash when it came to the topic of the Malfoys, but even he wasn't harsh enough to deny Teddy this moment.

Nobody had questioned her Uncle Harry inviting the Dursleys to his wedding, so why should Ron stop them from letting the Malfoys come to Teddy's? Did he have any right to stop Teddy from wanting to know more about his own blood, no matter the history between the families?

And maybe, now that the Malfoy family was commandeered by the blonde who'd wanted Voldemort gone as much as the rest of them -the one who'd just wanted the Dark Lord to _leave his family alone_-maybe they wouldn't be as bad as Ronald Weasley was expecting them to be. Maybe they would turn up at the wedding and _not_ make snide remarks about his family home, about the Weasley hair colour, about his mother's weight, and their metamorphous relative.

Ronald Weasley may have been willing to forgive if them -_him_, namely- if they didn't do all these things.

He was also more than willing to rub his success in the face of the Malfoy Patriarch; to let Draco Malfoy know that after all the teasing he'd given Ron at Hogwarts, he was now the one with the money, the fame, the influence over the Ministry. That the Malfoys, though still undoubtedly rich, could not hold a candle to the power of the Potter-Weasleys.

He'd be more than willing to be the one handing out the smirks and barbs, this time.

However, he still didn't want his Rosie near that Scorpius boy.

* * *

**A/N: So yeah, it was a bit a short, and a bit of a filler. But screw it, some of those things needed to be said, and I had the feeling that things were moving too fast, and I needed to slow it down a bit. The chapters may be a bit shorter now, as they aren't going to be merely one chapter per year, as you can see. I hope you guys have enjoyed this so far, and I also hope you stick around for more!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Soooo, thanks again my lovelies ;) I've gotten some lovely reviews, and some awesome followers, so I guess a celebration is in order with a new chapter, and a touch of Scorpius. Have a nice read!**

* * *

_Previously:_

_He was also more than willing to rub his success in the face of the Malfoy Patriarch; to let Draco Malfoy know that after all the teasing he'd given Ron at Hogwarts, he was now the one with the money, the fame, the influence over the Ministry. That the Malfoys, though still undoubtedly rich, could not hold a candle to the power of the Potter-Weasleys._

_He'd be more than willing to be the one handing out the smirks and barbs, this time._

_However, he still didn't want his Rosie near that Scorpius boy._

* * *

_5th year, part 2:_

She was a prefect.

A ruddy, bloody prefect; with a shiny badge, and the responsibility to match.

She could take points from whomever she wished. She could hand them back to those who deserved it (though being Rose, of course, she'd only be fair). She could finally confiscate those stupid tracking quaffles which followed people around, and admonish Morris Whitby, who refused to stop using his quills as drumsticks on every available surface in the castle.

It was all in her jurisdiction. She honestly didn't think she'd ever felt happier in her life.

In fact, she'd almost surpassed her own mother's happiness at the success, which involved the woman bustling about, singing Hogwarts' song (_'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty Hogwarts...'_), contacting every contactable human being on earth, and only pausing to give Rose tearful hugs every few minutes.

Rose suspected she was PMSing, but didn't dare mention it, considering she didn't particularly want to die without at least relishing the moment of taking points off James first. Thank God her dad hadn't been there when she found out, because in all likelihood she would have died anyway from one of his Weasley-strength hugs, which could give even a bodybuilder a spontaneous tracheotomy.

No, she'd been at home with Hugo and her mother when their owl, Cow, had flitted through the window and given her the good news in the form of her Hogwarts letter.

Cow was a rather strong Owl, who'd built up the nifty ability to carry mail for several individuals at once, including both Rose and Hugo's Hogwarts letters. It was because of this that Rose often felt sorry for being partly responsible for his moderately offensive name, which came about after their last owl, Pig, died.

However, she supposed poor Cow had nothing on Mr. Cat, who was most obviously a cat, less obviously a female, and surprisingly more cultured than even Uncle Percy could ever wish to be. She could often be found perched on the table, reading the business section of the Daily Prophet whilst Rose's mother fixed a spot of tea.

Rose didn't know about any other possible magical creature problems going on, but she'd always thought that somebody really need to take a closer look at that barmy cat. The thing was odd enough that even Rose wasn't game enough to take it to Hogwarts with her. Like usual, she merely had her trunk containing the necessities, as she could easily use the school owls to make contact if she needed.

They would be heading off to Kings Cross Station in little over 20 minutes.

In 20 minutes she would officially be able to carry out her prefect duties, attend prefect meetings, take points from the Flints.

Life was good.

Unfortunately, this feeling hadn't lasted after she'd finally gone back to Hogwarts.

* * *

"He dumped me." Rose said, as she entered the 5th year Ravenclaw dormitory. It was only their 3rd day back, and she was unable to look into any of the girls' eyes.

"Who did what?" Merryweather asked, apparently not having heard the first time.

"Darnell. He dumped me." She repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.

The girls could do nothing but blink as they took in that information. Rose couldn't blame them, as she was having some trouble processing the information herself. It was widely known that sweet, adorable, devoted guys like Darnell did't just dump their girlfriends. Apparently she'd managed to snag and snog the one guy who was the exception to this rule.

"Well, why on earth would he do that?" Hildergarde asked, her attempt to sound outraged soiled by the odd look on her face. She was simultaneously hungering for gossip, and eager to snatch the newly free Darnell for herself. Rose went on anyway.

"There's another girl," She said, her voice barely above a whisper, "A new muggle girl on his street. Apparently she's pretty, and sweet, and- and- she _understands_ him."

Rose sniffled slightly. She felt like such an idiot, putting her faith in a stupid boy with his stupid brown eyes and stupid unsure smile. She had really liked him. It hadn't been love or anything that ridiculous, but his snogs had made her want to sing, and so her feelings had likely bordered on infatuation, at best.

And now he had left her like she wasn't worth a thing, for a girl who _understood_ him. Merlin, there was no winning with boys, was there? Did girls really only have to choose between between blatant asshole (read: McLaggen and Malfoy), and asshole in denial with a side of shyness?

"Well," Gwen snorted, "That Crockford bloke couldn't sort his arse from his bellybutton even if you gave him a map. I wouldn't take it personally if I were you. 10 galleons says he'll come crawling back within a week."

In a normal situation Rose would've chastised the rather blunt girl for speaking harshly of Darnell, and might have even left in a huff as the other girls nodded and put in their own bets, but she really couldn't find it in her, and it really wasn't a normal situation. In fact, it felt quite good that these girls -whom Rose had always continued to believe were quite shallow- had the audacity to makes bets which were not in his favour.

It appeared that Scorpius Malfoy had another person hovering above him on Rose's list of people she disliked.

Merlin, Darnell was such an asshole.

* * *

Unfortunately, in a fate that Rose had grown most used to, it was both Darnell and Scorpius in which she would bump into much sooner than she would have liked. One of them quite literally.

She'd been walking down one of Hogwarts' many corridors after another horrifically boring History of Magic lesson, and was unfortunately not looking where she was going. It was fitting, therefore, that in one of the most horrifically clichéd ways often overused in fiction, she found herself on a one-way collision course with the shoulder of another unnamed individual. Her History textbook, which in her haste to leave the classroom had not been stuffed away in her bag, succumbed to the law of inertia and continued travelling forward across the flag stoned floor. It landed a meter or so in front of her.

"Er- sorry Rose," Said the familiar, timid voice of one Darnell Crockford, "I really should look where I'm going."

And even though Rose knew it was equally her fault that they had collided, she was just so angry at him that she just couldn't help herself.

"I completely agree." She sniffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

She'd never actually done that before; acting haughty was not her forte. It was something usually reserved for Scorpius, Tiberius, Holly, and various Daily Prophet journalists. But Rose had been so nice to him ever since first year, when all anybody else did was tease him, and how did he repay her? He dumped her like she was nothing. She was the only person who took him seriously, who defended him against bullies, who helped him with his homework, and now all Rose could think was that he never really liked her at all. That for the 8 months they were together, he'd only been with her to be rid of bullies and get an E on his charms essay.

He probably cheated on her too, with that stupid muggle girl.

Scorpius was right, she decided. Maybe she shouldn't be so nice all the time. Apparently even people like Darnell don't appreciate it as much as they should, and she refused to be taken for a ride. She didn't want to be the doormat that all the Darnell Crockfords in the world wiped their feet on. She wouldn't be nice to him anymore, and maybe she wouldn't be so nice to everyone else, either...

She realised they were both still standing there in silence, both lost in their thoughts (probably about that muggle, on his behalf).

"Well?" She asked, staring at him pointedly. He suddenly looked very confused, and Rose wanted nothing more than to slap that stupid look off his face.

"Err- what?" He asked, stupidly. _Merlin, what an- what an idiot_, she seethed.

"Are you going to pick up my book, or what?" She snapped, and held out her hand, waiting for it with wiggling fingers. Her other arm was on her hips as she had taken an offensive stance.

"Oh, yeah." He shuffled over and grabbed her textbook, before depositing it in her hand. Rose felt an odd sense of satisfaction as he appeared genuinely fearful, "Look, I really am sorry about-"

"Don't," She interrupted, and although there were so many things that had been bubbling up inside her since the break-up that needed to be said, all she could come up with was a sharp, "Sod off, Crockford."

And he did, thank Merlin.

Unfortunately he was instantly replaced with an equally familiar, yet equally unpleasant face.

Well, not unpleasant exactly. It seemed puberty had been rather kind to him so far, the lucky prick. and, as if sensing the line of her thoughts, Scorpius Malfoy tossed her a lovely little smirk, as he leaned against one Hogwarts' many odd statues. She got the feeling he had been there the whole time.

"Nice one, Weasley." He said, "I never knew you had it in you. I much prefer more unconventional methods myself, but still..."

He trailed off, and Rose Weasley's bottom lip trembled slightly. She knew she was about to cry, which was rather unfortunate given her current company, but there was nothing for it. When a girl's gotta cry, she's gotta cry, so she managed to duck into a nearby empty classroom before really letting loose.

She didn't know why she was crying, exactly. She guessed she sort of missed Darnell, but they'd spent 3 months of summer apart, so she couldn't miss him enough to get this upset about it. Rose thought it was mainly because it just made her feel so worthless, to be tossed aside like that. It was only made worse by the fact that crying over a guy made her feel like one of those male-dependent embarrassments of the female gender.

She'd settled herself in one of the chairs, and rested her arms on the desk in front of, and buried her head in her arms. It was only a few moments later that the she heard the chair beside her scrape against the floor, and the sound of Scorpius Malfoy's voice echoed throughout the room.

"You know, I never really knew what you ever saw in him in the first place. He's almost entirely useless." Scorpius murmured, patting her back awkwardly "Why, just the other day he got his robe caught on ..."

Rose cried just that little bit harder, and Scorpius stopped that line of thought with a sigh.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you could do better" He said, firmly, "Much better than a twit who doesn't know which end of his wand points at what."

Her sniffles subsided slightly as she turned her head to get a better look at him. He looked so honest, for once, and it was incredibly odd, but equally touching. She let out a little giggle.

"You know, if you and Gwen didn't bat for the same team, you'd make a lovely couple." She smiled, "She said the same thing, herself."

"Well then, maybe if you had such a wise taste in boyfriends as you clearly do in friends, neither of us would be here right now."

Maybe she should have been at least somewhat offended. Maybe she should still be crying. But in all honestly, she couldn't help but laugh some more, because although he was entirely blunt, he was also, once again, entirely right. Whenever she got her next boyfriend, which wouldn't be anytime soon, he needed to be a friend first and foremost. And a damn loyal one at that.

Scorpius squeezed her shoulder slightly, and then retracted his hand. He left the classroom without a goodbye, and Rose left soon after.

The next day Rose woke up to the news that Darnell Crockford was in the hospital wing. He'd told them he'd fallen down the stairs.

Rose knew otherwise. It had Malfoy's stench all over it.

And she didn't mind at all.

* * *

**A/N: Sooo, their personalities have been flipped a bit. What did you think? Like any other desperate author, I'd reaaalllyyy love some more sweet feedback. I don't care whether it's a review, follow, favourite, or PM, I'll take any of it [Prease?]. I swear, I won't even mind if you find your way to my home address on a lawn mower, and rock out a review in ballad form with a boom box held over your head. If you did that I'll probably even bake you brownies.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey pals, thanks for the sweet support ;) I don't know when my next update'll be since I'm starting my second semester of University now, but it shouldn't be too bad (I promise to try my best to get another chapter down by Friday). So anyway, closer to the end of the chapter there's some info on 'bicorns'. I'd just like to say that it's a mash up of mostly Wikipedia/ Harry Potter Wiki/ Pottermore information, with a teensy tiny dash of something I made up (the climate stuff). It's only a tiny bit of info I made up, and it doesn't detract from the truth behind this magical creature.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy this update!**

* * *

_Previously:  
__Scorpius squeezed her shoulder slightly, and then retracted his hand. He left the classroom without a goodbye, and Rose left soon after._

_The next day Rose woke up to the news that Darnell Crockford was in the hospital wing. He'd told them he'd fallen down the stairs._

_Rose knew otherwise. It had Malfoy's stench all over it._

_And she didn't mind at all._

888

_5th year, Part 3:_

"It was you, wasn't it?" She asked, though it came out as more of a demand.

It was a crisp, dark December night, and she was stuck patrolling along the corridors of the 4th floor with none other than Scorpius Malfoy. Truth be told, she didn't mind it as much as she should, as it had been nigh on two weeks since the embarrassing incident in the classroom, and Darnell's subsequent hospitilisation, and she hadn't yet been able to get him alone to confront him about it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," He sniffed, as he retained an appropriate walking distance beside her. Rose examined his face, but he refused to look at her.

The light from torches that lined the stone walls of the castle danced eerily across his features in a way that Rose Weasley really shouldn't have noticed, but did anyway. She was momentarily struck dumb by the notion that she found his face quite pretty, in an undeniably masculine sort of way. Unlike many boys in the castle, who primped and styled, his handsomeness was of the effortless kind, with his lovely bone structure and untouched hair. The fact that she noticed all this made her incredibly uncomfortable.

It took Rose far too long to respond.

"Look at you, being all Slytherin," She said, and raised her eyebrows for effect. She tried to shake off her embarrassment at shamelessly ogling him, "I might have even believed that response of yours if it wasn't so horrifically generic."

She watched his jaw twitch slightly, though she wasn't sure whether it was in amusement or annoyance. It could've even been something else altogether, for although they weren't enemies, they weren't quite friends, and she hadn't even begun to tackle the meanings behind the blonde boy's facial expressions. She could tell, however, that her questions had made him terribly uncomfortable, and he seemed to not a have a desire to answer anytime soon.

Rose took his silence as an affirmation of her suspicions as they turned a corner of the corridor. Although she knew it was him, she couldn't help but continue.

"Why?" She asked, "Why were you so nice? Why did you attack..._him?"_

He twitched some more. This time her answered, however.

"Maybe I was merely repaying a favour from third year," He murmured, reminding Rose of the time she'd found him hurt, "Or maybe Crockford is just a prick that had it coming to him."

Rose wanted to say more, but got the distinct feeling that it wasn't the right thing to do. His tone had just sounded so _final._

As it was, they continued silently with their patrol, and headed towards the stairs that lead to the fifth floor, stuck in their own thoughts.

They knew what they were doing, and therefore didn't need to communicate with each other.

They hadn't been prefects for long, but they hadn't needed that much time before they'd built up the knowledge of common hiding places for those who broke curfew, making for silent yet efficient patrolling from them both. This had not merely been because they were efficient prefects (though they most certainly were, in Rose's humble opinion), but more because of Rose's hand-me-down knowledge of the castle and its hidden nooks and crannies. There were some advantages of being related to Fred and James, after all.

They had ascended the fifth floor by now, and had resumed their check for stragglers and midnight wanderers when Rose heard an odd noise from a nearby broom closet. She pulled a face. If it wasn't bad enough that students seemed to choose horrifically obvious and clichéd places to snog, they always seemed to forget the advantage of a well placed muffliato charm.

Rose cringed as she wrapped her hand around the door handle and pushed the door open, scared as to what state of undress she'd find this particular couple in. As she spotted them locked in an embrace suitable for a mature adult movie (though, thankfully, with a decent level of clothing on), she felt an unparalleled warring of rage and disbelief wrap around her gut, for the couple before her were none other than Darnell and Hildergarde.

"What the_ fuck_?" Rose swore, in a manner not befitting her usual character, "I cannot _believe-_"

But she was cut off by a shocked and guilty looking Darnell.

"Rose- this isn't what it looks like, I swear!" He said, frantically. From behind her, Rose heard a scoff, and the distinct sound of someone cracking their knuckles. Rose had not been aware that Scorpius had been there until now, and by the looks of it, neither had Darnell. Hildergarde didn't seem bothered by any of this.

"Don't spare her feelings, 'Nell," Hildergarde said, before turning towards Rose. She seemed to be torn between smugness, and fear of getting on the bad side of the Weasley family. She carried on anyway, staring unblinkingly at Rose, "This is _exactly_ what it looks like."

Rose clenched her fists. She wanted to hit them both so badly. Darnell; the nice guy who wasn't so nice after all, and Hildergarde; the girl who Rose thought was her friend, but may as well be her enemy. She didn't, however. She'd try to remain the bigger person. Hopefully, Scorpius would too.

"How long?" She seethed, "How long have you two been together?"

She prayed it had only been a recent affair, but luck had never seemed to be on her side these days. Whereas Darnell was silenced by his guilt, Hildergarde was more than happy to oblige Rose's question.

"Long enough for you to know there never really was a muggle girl," She replied, and Rose had never felt so stupid and cheated in her life, "Long enough for you to know that he likes me more."

Her words were smug, and hurtful, and they made her so _angry_. Rose could not help herself any longer. The fist she'd balled up three sentences ago connected with the dark haired girl's left eye, extricating a pained yelp. Rose didn't care, though. The only thing she cared about was _making her face bruise._

However, two strong arms grasped her shoulders and pulled her back. She opened her mouth to cuss them out, but Scorpius' voice floated through the air behind her.

"Use your wand, Weasley." He said, before he pulled out his own. Darnell's eyes widened in response, and Hildergarde merely stood there, clutching her face.

"You- you can't get away with this," He stammered, palms outwards in the universal sign of surrender. Neither Rose nor Scorpius cared.

"Ah, but you see, Crockford," Scorpius crooned, and Rose almost found his tone oddly...arousing, "I already have, remember?"

Darnell swallowed, and Rose cut in.

"Not to mention, we're both prefects. Prefects who found you two, alone, after curfew..." Rose goaded, and squashed down the tiny part of her that knew this was wrong, and un-Rose-like. She was just too seethingly angry, and embarrassed, and betrayed to stop at this point " I'm sure my cousins -prefects and otherwise- would simply love to help us, too..."

* * *

Word had spread about the mysterious and unfortunate circumstances surrounding the hospital admittance of Hildergarde and Darnell. What was really unfortunate, however, was that Rose had to listen to her dorm mates croon over how horrible it must have been for poor Hilder, to be so terribly hurt. As if _she _was the victim in all of this.

The only other girl in her dorm that knew what had really happened was Lenore. Rose had told her, looking for a bit of emotional support that lay outside the arms of one Scorpius Malfoy, but the girl had been spending so much time alone with Lorcan lately that Rose might as well not have told her at all.

She wasn't the only one to find out, though. Apparently, the usually tight-lipped Lenore had let slip to Lorcan what had happened, which hadn't really bothered Rose too much, considering she trusted that boy implicitly. However, he'd let slip to his twin, who'd told Albus, and then, long story short, it would be hard pressed for Rose to find a relative of hers that didn't know.

She'd found this out when someone had 'accidentally' left a dungbomb under Darnell's hospital bed. And Hildergarde's scream as she'd woken up with no hair had sent all the kneazles at Hogwarts scattering. She probably should have felt bad for hospitalising them -and maybe a teensy, tiny part of her did- but she certainly hadn't felt bad at docking all those points off them, even if Hildergarde was in her house. The bitch deserved that, at least, and Rose had also found recklessness somewhat liberating.

What was even more thrilling to Rose, however, was what Scorpius had to say as he found her in the library, inbetween the musky shelves, shrouded by a tower of books. She'd originally come here with the intention of studying for her O.W.L.S, but had remembered her quest for information on the elusive yet intriguing matter of the bicorns. It was this research that Scorpius Malfoy interrupted.

"What the hell is this?" He asked, throwing something small onto the desk in front of her. She looked at him in confusion, before glancing at the small item that now sat on the page she had been reading. Rose carefully picked it up, and glanced back at him. It was rather obvious exactly what the item was.

"That would be a chocolate frog, Malfoy," She answered, slowly, as if talking to a child, "You tend to eat them."

"Yes, I know that," He snapped impatiently, having not appreciated her answer, "Just look at the back, Weasley."

Rose flipped it over, and raised her eyebrows in astonishment. There, on the back, was some writing that was not part of the packaging.

_Malfoy, _it read, _Nice work.-W_

Rose bit back a grin. She knew exactly what it was, and if the writing was anything to go by, she knew exactly who had written it, too.

"Well?" Scorpius asked, having caught the look on her face. He knew she knew what it was, and she suspected that he thought it was from her.

"I didn't write this, if that's what you're thinking." She replied. Because honestly, she was rather offended that he could believe that chicken scratch came from her, "It appears to be from my brother."

"Your brother?" He scoffed in disbelief, "Why on earth would your brother send me _this?"_

She bit back a smile. Her brother might've been a snot-faced idiot 80% of the time, but he wasn't nearly as unreasonable as Rose's father. The bloke was more diplomatic than she'd give him credit for.

"It's a traditional Weasley peace offering," She said, "Been in the family since chocolate frogs were invented, though we usually only use them after spats within the family. My cousins know about the mess with Darnell. I believe my brother is offering you a truce."

Rose couldn't help but grin. Maybe it wasn't so bad that the Malfoys would be attending Victoire and Teddy's wedding. It appeared her cousins would be willing to behave, though her father would still be another thing entirely.

It had gone rather quiet after that. Scorpius seemed to have gotten lost in his own thoughts, most likely about how bizarre this whole thing was, and merely stood there, tossing the chocolate frog from hand to hand

Rose directed her attention back to the book that she had been reading before Scorpius had interrupted her. She tried hard to tune out Scorpius' presence, but it seemed to be easier said than done. Puberty and quidditch seemed to be doing lovely things to his appearance so far, and she found it awefully distracting. Of course, she'd then spend a minute or so berating her thoughts. What would her father say about her ogling a Malfoy? Ugh!

After reading and re-reading the same line over and over again, his voice cut through the air around her.

"What _exactly_ are you doing?" He asked, and Rose's face reddened slightly. Had he noticed her glancing at him? Thankfully, he motioned towards the book in front of her, "Reading beyond the Care of Magical Creatures syllabus?"

"I, er- yeah. You know me, always trying to get ahead." She laughed nervously, not meeting his eyes. She doubted Scorpius believed her for a second. She shifted away from him, and continued perusing the pages of the book, before coming across what she'd been looking for all along.

The picture was of a fat, cow-like creature, with impossibly dark eyes, and two long twisted horns which looked both impossibly dangerous and incredibly beautiful at the same time. Rose recognised the ivory horns instantly from her _Most Potente Potions _textbook; it was an ingredient used commonly in potions, most prominently the famous polyjuice potion. Rose couldn't believe she hadn't remembered this before.

Her eyes shifted to the description;

_'The Bicorn, also known as the Bicrone or Bulchin, is a magical beast with two horns used commonly by potioneers... It has the reputation of devouring kind-hearted and devoted husbands. It is described as very fat and good-natured, and thrives in warm, sunny conditions...'_

"Bicorns, eh?" Scorpius asked from behind her, making Rose jump. She hadn't realised he was behind her as she'd been too busy absorbing the words that eerily reflected what her mother said...

"Er- yeah." She replied, lamely. Scorpius pulled the chair out from beside her, and sat down. He gave her a look that indicated he was about to tell her something important, before leaning in close to her. Rose stupidly felt heat creep up her neck.

"My father thinks it's terribly embarrassing, you know," He paused, before continuing on, "How the Ministry's handling this. You'd think they could handle this on their own..."

He continued, and all Rose could do was sit there, agape. Scorpius knew what she was researching. Scorpius was speaking as if she knew all the details he was talking about, as if he hadn't realised just how little she knew. Scorpius Malfoy knew things about this mystery, because he apparently had parents that trusted him with this sort of information.

Scorpius Malfoy was the only person that could tell her everything.

Rose couldn't help but think that the fates were sort of sick.

* * *

**A/N: Like it, hate it? I don't care! Just chuck a review at me, or give me a passive aggressive PM! Anyway, so as I said, second semester Uni is now giving me a good spank on the bum, so updating will be a bit different, but not super infrequent!.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I just realised that you guys probably thought it was weird for me to introduce a character like Tiberius, and then just chuck him away, so I figured I'd clear it up here since I don't think I'll bring him back. Basically, Tiberius was simply a tool to show that pompous and shallow individuals exist outside Slytherin. This also applies to Darnell. I created these characters to reflect on the wise words of Sirius Black, in that there isn't just good and deatheaters. That Scorpius is just like any other guy at Hogwarts. Anyway, now that that's out of the way, I'd once again like to thank everyone for their awesome support!**

* * *

_Previously:_

_"My father thinks it's terribly embarrassing, you know," He paused, before continuing on, "How the Ministry's handling this. You'd think they could handle this on their own..."_

_He continued, and all Rose could do was sit there, agape. Scorpius knew what she was researching. Scorpius was speaking as if she knew all the details he was talking about, as if he hadn't realised just how little she knew. Scorpius Malfoy knew things about this mystery, because he apparently had parents that trusted him with this sort of information._

_Scorpius Malfoy was the only person that could tell her everything._

_Rose couldn't help but think that the fates were sort of sick._

* * *

_5th Year, Part 4;_

As it had turned out, though Scorpius wasn't aware of all there was to know about the situation involving bicorns, what he did know was quite interesting. "My father," He'd told Rose, "Is a high profile member of the Department of International Magical Cooperation." He had confided that Draco Malfoy had been commissioned to negotiate with Ministry officials from other countries regarding an increase in attacks on British soil. Apparently, though her Aunt Ginny hadn't been able to manipulate the Daily Prophet into displaying any details of this odd occurrence, the Ministry had finally seemed to realise that this was an issue that would not go away if ignored any longer.

Rose's mind was once again reeling. From what Scorpius had said, she had managed to surmise that the countries in which Draco Malfoy was negotiating with were all of the equatorial region, though she hadn't managed to uncover the significance of this. Scorpius seemed to think they were merely more equipped for the job. He reasoned that the tropical regions would no doubt have had more experience with these beasts, and Rose was inclined to agree with him. She couldn't help but feel that there was more to it, but she assured herself that these answers would come in time. Although they hadn't had much time to uncover the details they already had, Rose believed that they were already on the precipice of knowing everything they needed to know, and wasn't particularly concerned.

Rose had the distinct feeling that the issue was not nearly as complex as she had thought, though. Despite this, both Rose's stubbornness, and her fascination with magical creatures prevented her from relaxing in her search for more information. All she desired was the full picture, to be able to understand what was happening. She had no desire to search for a solution to whatever problem these creatures created, nor did she feel that Scorpius was interested in heroics himself. Rose couldn't help but think that there was a reason neither of them were placed in Gryffindor.

Her previous line of thought had stuck with her, though. Scorpius was not a boy who wanted to be a hero, nor did he seem particularly interested in the case. So why had he helped her? Why had he spent the past week, poring through the library with her, instead of tossing a quaffle between his friends?

Rose hated not knowing the answers to these things. Nevertheless, she got up to return one of the many books she'd taken from the shelves. For today, a wintery and dark Saturday, Rose had decided to complete some of the homework she'd put off over the last week, and had not found the information she'd needed on Wolfsbane from that particular book.

As she reached up to put it away, however, she found that she couldn't quite reach. It was neither close enough that Rose could guarantee the book wouldn't fall on her head if she tried to put it away, nor far enough away that Rose would need to jump to reach it. She was about to give up on the endeavor, when she felt a presence behind her, which she knew to be Scorpius.

Somewhere across the span of the week (and possibly beforehand), she'd come to recognise his presence. Maybe it was his enticing scent, maybe it was his rather distinct footfalls, or maybe it was just the annoying way that he breathed, but something about him always alerted her to his presence. It disturbed her slightly, but she couldn't suppress the feeling of nervous anticipation whenever he neared.

She held her breath as he gently took the book from her hand, using his advanced height to place it where it belonged. His action had resulted in him leaning over her, and Rose could feel the heat of his body against her back. It alarmed her that all her nerve endings seemed to be attuned to him in that moment, but she couldn't deny that it wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

Neither of them spoke, and neither of them moved. Her gut clenched at the feel of his rapid heartbeat, and her an odd warmth spread through her body. They stayed that way for a time that had long since been considered inappropriate for two friends, and it wasn't until an image of her father flitted through her head that Rose stepped away from under his arms. Her dad hadn't wanted her to be friends with the Malfoy boy, so what would he think if she started feeling something...more?

* * *

Avoiding Scorpius hadn't been too difficult. They had many of the same classes, but weren't partnered up in any of them, and she knew Scorpius wouldn't speak to her with other people around, anyway. When classes finished for the day, she retreat to the Ravenclaw tower to study for her OWLs which were fast approaching. She needed to get at least an exceeds expectations in all her subjects if she wanted to get a decent job, and if, more importantly, she didn't want to disappoint her mother.

Studying for her OWLs wasn't nearly as difficult a feat as she had imagined. Since her fight with Hildergarde, she'd been on civil terms with her dorm-mates at best. She couldn't help but feel that they could just as easily betray her, too, and was therefore reluctant to speak with them. The only exception was her best friend Lenore, but the girl had long since gotten over her crush on Louis, and had confided to Rose that her and Lorcan had started going out in secret. This left Rose with no distractions from her studying, despite a part of her brain being preoccupied by a certain blonde boy.

When their last Hogsmeade weekend of the year came around, Rose had not been expecting to go, but was surprised when Louis dragged her out of the Ravenclaw common room.

"You have to get out, Rose," He exclaimed, "You'll go mad if you stay in there any longer. Uncle George is already mourning the loss of your recklessness, and I simply can't stand by as he falls further into a pit of despair."

Despite herself, Rose giggled, and let him drag her along. She was glad that he seemed to be back to his usual charming and mildly dramatic self. She was also glad to get some fresh air, for he was right. She had been going a bit mad.

"We're meeting the family at The Three Broomsticks," He said, excitedly, "My sister and Teddy will be there, too."

Rose almost groaned. She had been so self-absorbed this year that she'd almost entirely forgotten about her cousin's wedding plans. She knew the invitations for the wedding would have gone out by now, and she was assailed by the fact that if the Malfoys accepted their own invitation, she would have to try and avoid the boy at the wedding, too.

The winter weather had steadily given way to spring, leaving Rose and Louis to enjoy the trek to their favourite pub without the chill that had been present in the previous months.

No matter how many times Rose got to visit Hogsmeade, it never failed to take her breath away. The snow had melted from the building's rooves, leaving behind the true spectacle of the thatch-roofed cottages and resplendent gardens that lined the main road in a fashion similar to that found on postcards. Even the heavy presence of the Forbidden Forest on the edge of the village didn't detract from its beauty. Hogsmeade always had been, and would always, remain a magical place.

Rose watched sappy couples perusing Madam Puddifoots, rowdy friends of all ages laughed their way to Zonko's, and more sedate students had their interest captured by such stores as Tomes and Scrolls, and Scrivenshaft's. As they walked, Louis waved and charmed the students they passed, many of the girls going crimson or boldly wiggling their fingers in return. They had no idea how little interest he had in them, but he seemed to indulge them anyway. She guessed he wasn't quite comfortable yet even hinting that his preferences lay in the more male variety, and even Rose was unsure whether he had, in fact, given Tommy Quigley's bum a few more glances than necessary.

"Do your parents know?" She blurted, before she could filter herself. It was a thought that was meant to have been kept inside her head, and she certainly regretted letting it out. It was a very sensitive topic, after all, and she didn't want to offend him. Louis had blanched slightly at her words, but sighed in resignation less than a moment later.

"No," He replied, his eyes downcast. He guided her in-between two residential cottages, before continuing, "I can't, Rose. I don't think I ever will, they'll be so disappointed..."

"Surprised, maybe," Rose granted him, for it wasn't obvious that he was gay at all. But Louis had become her closest cousin over these five years, and the thought of him suppressing who he was to appease his parents, when Rose was sure they'd accept him, made her feel sick, "They could never be disappointed though, Louis. Our family has worked so hard to erase bigotry...I know it's a big step, but one day, you should tell them...you may be surprised, yourself."

She believed her family may be shocked, but not hateful, and that by keeping quiet he was only making himself unhappy. But Rose hadn't pressed the matter any further, for it was Louis' decision, and his alone. Rose wouldn't look over the fact that simply telling _her_ had been an enormous step itself, and she doubted now was the right time for any of this anyway. For the next few months, everything would be about his sister, and Rose knew that it wasn't just her who was glad for the distraction.

They reached The Three Broomsticks fairly quickly, and had no problems finding the congregation of redheads in the crowd of students, where 5th and 7th years were enjoying their last moments of freedom before their exams would be upon them.

Rose sat beside Albus, and Louis sat on her other side. Whilst the latter struck up a conversation with his sister, the former turned to her.

"Rose," Albus said, raising his eyebrows at her, not even bothering to greet her properly, "I haven't seen you in weeks. Quincy said you've been spending a lot of time with Malfoy."

Rose frowned. Quincy Quigley, brother of Tommy Quigley and dorm-mate of Albus, was quite the library dweller himself. It shouldn't have surprised her that he noticed her friendliness with the blonde boy.

"Maybe I have been," She countered, suddenly defensive, although it was hard to be so when their conversation had attracted the ears of Hugo, James, and Fred, who'd likely share whatever opinion Albus was about to put forth. She narrowed her eyes at him, "He's not a bad guy."

"I'm not saying he is," Which earned a scoff from James, and Rose glared at her annoying older cousin, "It's just odd, is all."

This time, James slammed his pint of butterbeer onto the tabletop, attracting the attention of the other occupants of the table. "Odd?" He said, incredulously, "She's getting cozy with a Malfoy, and you think it odd? It's fucking creepy, is what it is!"

"James-" Victoire gasped, as if his words were a scandal. Rose thought they sort of were, actually. However, whilst everyone else seemed opinionless on the matter, Fred and Hugo seemed to agree with James.

"Just because he's a Slytherin, it doesn't make him creepy! Merlin himself was a Slytherin-" Rose retorted, but James continued, unhindered.

"Don't get me wrong, Malfoy did well with that Crockford sot, and a friendship with him is...acceptable... but I won't have him fantasizing about ginger Malfoy babies," He grimaced, and Rose thought that mental image was rather confronting, and Hugo finally seemed to pipe up.

"Yeah," He agreed, "if he thinks he can get cozy with you, Rosie..." But he didn't seemed to finish that thought, as the rhyme had caught the attention of the slightly tipsy boys. Rose took this moment to intervene, seething that they thought they had the right to tell her what she could or couldn't do (for they wouldn't be acting like this if she were a boy, 'getting cosy' with a girl), and more than slightly embarrassed that her other cousins were here to witness this.

"Don't be- Don't be stupid! We're just friends! And even if we weren't, it's none of your business! I can get cosy with whoever I like!"

"Not with a Malfoy!" James urged, and Rose was surprised that it was only her cousins that heard with the volume of his voice. Rose wanted to slap him, and was about to do just that, when they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

Teddy, who'd been sitting impossibly close Victoire up until this point, was now standing, surveying the boys with something she'd never seen on his face before; disappointment. Rose was quite suddenly very aware of the reason why Victoire had sounded so appalled, and felt guilty being involved in a conversation that had made poor Teddy more uncomfortable than she'd realised.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak about my family that way," He said, his tone uncharacteristically solemn as he caught the eyes of each of the boys, before turning and disappearing through the crowd, Victoire going after him.

The three boys hung their heads in shame, not having realised how offensive they'd been.

Rose stared straight ahead, trying not to feel too triumphant in such a heavy situation.

But oh, it was good to have someone on her side.

* * *

**A/N: I know this is a bit of a filler, but I thought we needed to establish the steaminess between our lovely protagonists, and I refuse to keep neglecting Rose's family. Please give me some feedback! To reward you guys for being so awesome, I'm also considering bumping up the wedding to the next chapter. Cheers for reading this ;P**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Yay, it's wedding time for everyone's favourite cannon Next Gen characters ;) I hope it meets your expectations! Oh, and once again, thanks for all the reviews, favourites, and follows, they're super awesome and make me giggle like a freak :P**

* * *

_Previously:_

_"I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak about my family that way," He said, his tone uncharacteristically solemn as he caught the eyes of each of the boys, before turning and disappearing through the crowd, Victoire going after him._

_The three boys hung their heads in shame, not having realised how offensive they'd been._

_Rose stared straight ahead, trying not to feel too triumphant in such a heavy situation._

_But oh, it was good to have someone on her side._

* * *

_The Wedding:_

The wedding had been organised for the second Saturday of the summer holiday, and the day had approached Rose quicker than she could ever imagine. It felt had like it was just yesterday that she had exited the Great Hall, fretting over question 7 in her Transfiguration exam. But now she stood, somewhat disoriented from apparition, before the building that would host her cousin's marriage.

As it turned out, her father needn't have worried about the Malfoys ridiculing his childhood home. Victoire had apparently had her sights set on a different location entirely which, in hindsight, shouldn't have surprised Rose at all. Victoire had always been more of a Delacour than a Weasley, and not just looks; the Burrow was likely far too unimpressive for a girl like her to get married in.

Rose might love the girl, and she wasn't a bad person, but sometimes she could be a tad shallow. Or maybe Rose was just being too harsh; maybe the impressive structure before her was merely a facet of a dream wedding the girl had always had. Rose wouldn't know. She'd never been much of a dreamer, herself.

Potter Manor was a vast and absolutely breathtaking sight to behold. The manor itself was an interesting motley of brown paneling against grey stone, with a steep, arched roof, and large, square windows that detailed the 3 storeys, and overlooked the grounds on which the building sat.

The garden itself was at its most stunning during the summer, a fact that was not overlooked by those in charge of the wedding plans. Though there were no flowers, nor any other meticulously managed foliage, the presence of these would likely have clashed with the natural foliage detailing the area. This most notably included the weeping willows, whose vibrant, stringy leaves drooped from the tree's branches and caressed the surface of the small lake below it.

The garden simply looked effortlessly beautiful, just like Victoire Weasley herself.

But, of course, it hadn't always looked like this, exactly. There had been a period, between the death of James Potter and the end of the Second Wizarding War, that the manor and its grounds had been untouched, and, subsequently, unkempt. The Manor was only accessible by those of Potter blood, of course, and the only one left hadn't even known about it until after the war, and so it had remained in an unsightly state for 20 odd years.

Although her Uncle had been entitled to his parents' funds when he had started Hogwarts, he had not been able to inherit the manor until he was of age, as was Wizarding Law. However, due to the circumstances of the war, which incidentally came to a crux the very day Harry Potter had turned 17, Gringotts had not been able to inform, nor entrust him of the manor until the bank had stabilised after Voldemort's demise.

Rose couldn't have imagined how shocked her Uncle had been when a suited, suitcase lugging goblin had shown up at The Burrow, giving him the rights to the home in which his father, and all the Potters before that, had grown up in. The building _he_ never got to grow up in himself, with a family he'd never been able to have, and full of portraits of people he'd never gotten to meet, but always wanted to know.

And although it had been his to inhabit, neither he nor her Aunt Ginny -both used to the cramped, yet homely surrounds of the Burrow- had been too enthused with living on the pretty, yet sprawling grounds. The building became a haven for displaced people after the war, and then, once everyone had left, it had been used to hold events that the Burrow was too small to hold. It was the place Harry and Ginny had gotten married in, themselves, as well as many others.

Harry had also kindly offered the Manor to Teddy and Victoire as a living space after they got married, but it was declined. Despite the fact that Harry had always viewed Teddy as his son, the boy wouldn't take the building that he felt wasn't rightfully his to have.

Besides, James had had his eye on it for some time, and probably would have had a fit if it were taken from him right under his nose.

* * *

Rose was nervous.

She'd liked to have thought the feeling was part of her excitement for her cousins, but deep down she knew it wasn't. She knew what she was feeling wasn't really about the wedding itself, but rather who would be attending it.

After that heated moment in the library, she'd felt confused about the nature of her relationship with Scorpius, and had avoided him like the plague. Because of this, she was sure that re-acquainting themselves at the wedding would be less than appropriate, especially considering both their fathers were would be there.

Rose tugged at the hem of her dress as she thought, and glanced out of the second storey window of the manor. Guests were mingling on the grounds, not yet able to enter the grand ballroom that Rose had helped set up for the ceremony. She hadn't yet spotted the Malfoys, but she could see various of her adult family members exchanging pleasantries with different people, many of which Rose didn't know.

She turned back around to face the other girls in the room; the bridesmaids who had had the sense to stay as far away from Victoire and Aunt Fleur as possible during these crucial moments. The only one not there was Dominique, who was either visiting her sister as a part of her Maid-of-Honour duties, or snogging the rather fit caterer they'd spied earlier in the day. Rose was putting her galleons on the latter, as she, herself, still had PTSD from slipping into the room Victoire was in during a search for Lily's missing shoe.

The girl had been shrill, but looked absolutely divine in her delicately laced wedding gown. Of course, Victoire could wear a white hotel bed sheet and still look like she just stepped off the front cover of _Witch Worthy Weddings_.

It really wasn't very fair to normal looking girls like Rose, for a girl to be that beautiful. Of course, there was an upside to this. Although the tradition was that the bridesmaids wore unsuitable dresses to make the bride look better, Victoire had been able to pick her bridesmaids flattering dresses, with the knowledge that she'd outshine them anyway.

Rose was happy that, although she may not have looked as stunning as Victoire, or as confident as Dominique, she still did look nice in a knee-length teal dress and a stylish bun.

Time crawled by as the nerves assailed her, but it wasn't long before the guests had long since settled in the ballroom, and her mother had come to usher the girls to its entrance. They'd had just enough time in the first two weeks of the summer holidays to rehearse their entrance, thus Rose confidently got into position behind Roxanne, praying as she walked that her legs didn't give way in the heels she wasn't used to wearing.

As she walked down the aisle, she kept her gaze straight ahead, occasionally glancing at her brother and cousins who stood in as the groomsmen, to ensure she didn't seek out the gaze of the one person she wasn't sure she wanted to see. It was only when she'd made it safely down the length of the aisle that she relaxed herself, and let her gaze flow around room.

The theme of the wedding itself was gold, which was as Gryffindor as they'd dared to go considering red would clash horribly with the considerable amount of gingers in attendance. Large golden vases full of white lilies were propped against the walls, complimenting the golden gossamer-y ribbons that adorned the guests' chairs. 3 large golden chandeliers hung from the high ceiling which, along with the small floating candles that lined the aisle -which her mother had most likely charmed herself- provided an ambient light, making the bride look even more ethereal as she made her entrance.

Victoire's movements were as graceful as ever, and Rose couldn't help but sneak a glance at Teddy with a wasn't sure where she wanted to get married, or who she wanted to get married too, but she knew in that moment that as long as her fiance looked at her the same way Teddy was looking at Victoire, nothing else really mattered.

Rose soon lost her focus as the drone of the ceremony commenced. It was only Teddy and Victoire's kiss, and the cheers it extracted from the guests, that shocked Rose out of her daze. Lily, beside her, had sighed at the sight _'It's just so romantic, isn't it?'_ to which Lucy agreed, and Molly rolled her eyes. Roxanne was as dazed as Rose had been, and Dominique was making eyes at one of Teddy's friends. Rose avoided anyone's gaze, and was happy once they were able to escape to the grounds for mingling and photos.

It had taken a tremendous amount of strength to not seek out that certain blonde boy, and she soon found that remaining close to as a large a group of Weasleys she could manage at a single point in time was a rather effective technique in avoiding him. This was, of course, easy to do during the wedding photos, but did not work quite as well when they were over. She had been standing by her father, after a long and excruciating conversation with her great Aunt Muriel, when they were ambushed.

"Weasley," Came a drawling voice from behind them. For a second, Rose had believed it to have come from Scorpius, but as they both whipped around, it was apparent that it was neither from Scorpius, nor directed at her.

Draco Malfoy looked so much like Scorpius, with his pale, pointed features, and steely grey eyes. His hair was receding, though, and he had the cool countenance of someone who'd gone through the wringer, and not come out unscathed.

"Malfoy," Her father replied, his eyes narrowed to slits, "What a lovely surprise. I hope attending the wedding of a metamorphagus anda Weasley hasn't damaged your reputation _too_ much."

Rose gaped at her father's harsh words, but Draco Malfoy merely sneered. Rose tried not to notice Scorpius who, standing next to his father, didn't look too pleased with the comment himself.

"I appreciate the concern, Weasley," Mr. Malfoy replied, with restrain. A petite brunette woman placed a hand on his arm in warning, "But at least I have a reputation worth damaging."

They all knew, however, that this had no longer been true since the war, and her family had gained a fair bit of positive attention, but Rose thought the two were merely reminiscing the sort of insults they'd shared a long time ago. She stepped forward before her father could say anything else.

"Hello," She said, for lack of anything better to say, "I'm Rose Weasley. It's nice to meet you."

She held her hand out, not looking at any of the three Malfoys in particular, and immediately felt quite silly. What if none of them took it? How embarrassing!

She needn't have worried however, for a familiar, pale hand clasped hers, and Rose truly realised her avoidance plan had failed. "Scorpius Malfoy," He said, as if they'd never spoken before, "A pleasure."

Rose could've screamed; here she was, trying to avoid him and the uncomfortable feeling that she'd started getting when he was near, and then he has to come along, not only saving her from embarrassment, but leaving a tingling sensation in her hand from where he'd touched her.

Thankfully, the petite woman stepped forward then, and introduced herself as Astoria Malfoy. Rose found that she kind of liked this woman. She might have had the air of someone who'd been cared for all her life, but she was kind, yet strong, and seemingly unaffected by prejudice. She could see where Scorpius got his pleasant side from.

Draco Malfoy was more forthcoming with his introduction than had initially thought he would be, but sneaking a glance at her father, she suspected Mr. Malfoy's politeness was more to do with the fact that Rose's father was clearly not too delighted with a _death-eater_ touching his daughter, than actually caring to engage in pleasantries.

Thankfully, the grand ballroom was apparently ready for the reception, and they were allowed back inside. Rose escaped to sit with the bridal party, once again in-between Lily and Roxanne.

The chairs from the ceremony had been re-arranged around large, round tables. They were adorned with tablecloths of a shimmery gold, with an ivory coloured table-runner on each that matched the delicate crockery. Rose watched the 5 floating candles on her table as they drifted in a circle around the tall, thin, gold-rimmed vase that acted as the centre-piece.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Lily sighed, and put out a hand to feel one of the candles skim her palm as it moved.

"It would be, if I couldn't hear James and Fred debating how many Grindylows can fit up a girls'-"

"Dominique_, please_." Molly cut in, looking as disturbed as Rose felt, and made a gesture towards the menu in her hand "Not now."

On the bright side, that horrendous image had taken her mind off Scorpius, and she was able to choose what she wanted from her own menu.

"Oh, come on, Molly," Dominique replied, "You've got an opinion on everything. Tell me, how many do _you_ think could fit-"

Roxanne slapped Dominique in the face with a menu _'Just shut up and choose, Dom'_, whilst Lucy muttered_ '2, at most'_ which Rose guessed nobody was supposed to hear, but did anyway.

Rose laughed along with the rest of them, and tapped her plate with her wand. Their food appeared, and the girls, inheriting the Weasley eating habits, only stopped eating during the speeches, which were more or less consistent of threats to Teddy, compliments to Victoire, comments about how perfect they were together, and , Rose's favourite, the various antics one lightweight Teddy Lupin had gotten up to in the Gryffindor common room (curtesy of his best friend, Mickey Edgecombe).

Rose Weasley seemed to have managed to forget about Scorpius Malfoy and his electric touch entirely up until this point.

But then came the dancing.

* * *

Rose wasn't exactly sure who she was dancing with, partly because he didn't speak a word of English, but mostly because her mind had been too preoccupied trying not to think of Scorpius to have caught his name. He was a guy, and he could dance, and that's really all that had mattered to her at that point.

Unfortunately, Scorpius was neither as far away from her mind nor her body as she would have liked, and it wasn't long at all before she felt him tap on her shoulder.

"A dance, Rose?" He asked, but before she could answer, he already rested one hand on her waist. She could have shaken him -she knew this- but she hadn't, and she'd probably regret it. She'd even let him grasp her hand in his, and she tried desperately not to think about how handsome he looked in his dark, crisp dress robes, under the gentle light of the chandeliers.

"You've been avoiding me," He commented after some time, "Why?"

"You _know_ why," She replied, not quite able to meet his gaze. And she knew that he did. He just loved to mess with her.

"I'm not sure that I do, Rose," He said, but his show of confusion was ruined by the rather smug look that fleeted across his face, "You may have to explain it to me. You see, I can't quite remember what I've done wrong."

"Don't play games with me, Scorpius," She hissed, her face heating up. It wasn't fair that he could get these sorts of reactions from her, "You know exactly what you did. In the library, you -I mean, it just wasn't appropriate- being too close-"

"Closer than we are now?" His breath fanned across her ear, and she took a shuddering breath inwards. She hadn't been aware of how close he'd drawn her towards him as she'd spoken, and she was suddenly glad for all the other people on the dance floor, who blocked the gaze of their parents, because their moment in the library was _nothing_ compared to this. She could feel the entire front of his body against hers, she could feel _everything_; the firmness of his chest, his rapid heart-beat, the tingles that ran through her skin. It was everything she'd felt with Darnell, but much, _much_ more.

And for a moment, she was terrified. But that feeling changed as the boy -man- in front of her shifted slightly, and did something she should have expected from the start.

Scorpius Malfoy kissed her.

It was gentle, and soft, and it didn't last long, but it filled Rose with an incredible sense of warmth that left her slightly dizzy, and wanting more.

But Scorpius had left, the song had ended, and Dominique Weasley had never stared at Rose with eyebrows so high in her life.

"I think we both know where the Malfoy boy wants to stick _his_ Grindylow."

"_Dominique_!"

* * *

**A/N: Shite, I totally rambled for ages about the Manor at the beginning, and I'm definitely sorry for that (but I'd always wondered what happened to that Manor, and nobody else seemed to include it in their Next Gen stories, so I decided to make up some rubbish about it myself). As long as you don't kill me for that horrendously boring beginning chunk, I'll appreciate an as scathing or, if you liked it, lovely a review as you care to manage. AND I WILL PUT A LINK OF WHAT I BELIEVE POTTER MANOR LOOKS LIKE ON MY PROFILE, since I don't feel that I described it adequately ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: All your reviews have made me smile like cray cray, and even the favourites an follows. Please; keep the love coming. I'm going to try and put more dialogue in now, so if you like/hate it, don't be hesitant to tell me!**

* * *

_Previously:_

It was gentle, and soft, and didn't last long, but it filled Rose with an incredible sense of warmth that left her slightly dizzy, and wanting more.

But Scorpius had left, the song had ended, and Dominique Weasley had never stared at Rose with eyebrows so high in her life.

"I think we both know where the Malfoy boy wants to stick _his_ Grindylow."

"_Dominique_!"

* * *

_6th year, Part I_

"All I'm saying is; just because technically I _can_ snog the giant squid, it doesn't mean I should!" Hugo wailed, throwing his arms out for emphasis, "It's just _wrong."_

They were on Rose's bed, within their small, cosy, Godric's Hollow cottage, and Hugo Weasley would not stop going on about the very thing Rose had hoped he hadn't seen. She suspected he wouldn't be stopping any time soon, either.

"Look, Hugo," Rose began, unsure what she wanted to say, or how she was going to say it, "Although I'm ever so glad that my future sister-in-law won't be of the cephalopod variety, I fail to see what this has got to do with me and Scorpius..."

It was a lie, of course; she knew exactly what he was trying to say. She just didn't want to acknowledge it. Instead, she huffed in frustration as the brush she had tugged through her hair got stuck on a knot. Usually, she wouldn't bother brushing her hair, which had a habit of frizzing more horrendously at the mere mention of grooming, but the wedding had seen her hair in the very bun that had left it in the state of knots. It was also currently acting as a source of concentration that took her mind away from both her brother's indignant response, as well as the very blonde boy that caused this whole mess in the first place.

"For Fawke's sake, Hugo," Rose said in exasperation, not quite sure what part of his spiel she interrupted. By the indignant look her brother gave her, she guessed it was rather important, "Just because you're my brother, it _doesn't_ mean you can tell me who I _can_ snog, and who I _can't_."

"Too, right I can!" He all but yelled in response, "Especially after that other bloke-"

"Darnell has _nothing_ to do with this!" Her voice rose. She couldn't believe her brother would not only bring that revolting idiot up, but to also compare him to Scorpius, too.

Scorpius Malfoy might have been a bit of a tosser more times than Rose dared to recount, and he seemed to have found his niche in messing with Rose's head, but Rose was sure that if Scorpius hadn't had her best interests at heart, she would have known it by now. The same could not have been said for her ex boyfriend, however. More so, the thought that any of her family felt they had any say in who she spent her time with made her feel sick.

"Just sod off." Rose snapped, in a manner not unlike her father. She usually wouldn't have been so rude, but she supposed, considering both the situation, and the fact that all sisters have the fundamental right to say such things to their annoying little brothers, she didn't feel guilty at all. In fact, Hugo even surprised her by leaving, but from the look he gave her, she doubted he would drop the subject anytime soon.

Rose wanted nothing more than for this conversation to be over. She'd already received 7 separate missives from Dominique containing quidditch related innuendos about how many times _'that fit Malfoy bloke had scored through your central hoop'_. And then of course there was the howler she got from James, and Albus' silent treatment, as well as a rather surprisingly grateful and 'proud' letter from one newly married Teddy Lupin, straight from his honeymoon. She was also fairly certain many more people had seen, and it was only a matter of time before her parents jumped onto Rose's Highway to Hell aswell.

* * *

Unfortunately for Rose, this moment came quicker than she would have liked.

She had been scrubbing the dishes after dinner later than night, thinking wistfully about the moment where she'd be able do menial tasks like these with magic (she would be turning 17 during the approaching school year), when she heard her mother clear her throat behind her.

Rose turned around to spot her mother standing with a tea-towel over her shoulder. Behind her mother, her father sat at the table with his arms crossed, and a rather sour expression on his face. Rose should've known he was unhappy when he cooked them fish for dinner (Rose's mother was hopeless in the kitchen, you see, and her father had picked up a few pointer's from Rose's grandma Weasley), because fish had to be Rose's least favourite food in the whole world.

"Yes, mum?" Rose asked, after neither of her parents had continued. Rose's mother let out a long sigh, and in her periphery, Rose could see her father tense up slightly. She was fairly sure that knew what this was about, and a thick knot of dread settled in the bottom of her stomach.

"Rose," Her mother began, and paused, seemingly trying to find the right words, "We understand that we have no right to tell you who you can...spend your time with-"

Her dad interrupted her with a snort, and words that were eerily similar to her brother "I'm her _father_, and father's have always had the right to-"

A hot ball of indignation swept itself through her body, and just as she was about to let out an angry retort, her mother beat her to it.

"_Ronald!" _she snapped, rounding on her husband. Rose would've rolled her eyes if she weren't so incensed. Her father had just made the classical mistake of introducing a patriarchal idea into the presence of two fairly ardent women's rights supporters. You would've thought that after all these years, he might've learnt from his mistakes, "We don't live in the Middle Ages anymore! A woman -especially one of whom I trust their judgment implicitly- has every right to make her own decisions about matters like this!"

Her father reddened slightly.

"I wasn't implying-" He started, but Rose cut him off.

"I bet if I was a boy, and Scorpius was a girl, you wouldn't care!" She yelled, "You think you're doing the right thing, dad, but all you're doing is _suffocating_ me! You tell me all these things I can and can't do -_don't get in Slytherin, Rosie. Don't befriend Scorpius, Rosie_, blah blah blah- And- and I'm sick of it! I can do whatever I want!"

"Rosie, what on earth are you talking about? If this were Hugo-"

"-It wouldn't be as much of a big deal, would it?" She howled, "Come _on_ dad! You didn't even bat an eyelash when Fred sent that letter saying he and James had caught Hugo sharing a broom closet with Agnetha Lestrange! And don't give me any of that 'Malfoy' rubbish, because everyone knows the Lestranges make the Malfoys look like princesses!"

"I- of course I cared about Hugo and that girl!" He replied, but from the look on his face, Rose knew she had him. He knew she knew that Ron Weasley had simply brushed it off with that horrendous phrase _'boys will be boys'_, and then let it slide.

Ever since she could remember, he'd treated her like this precious little thing that could break at the drop of a snitch. She knew her dad was just being protective, but to wrap her up in bubble wrap, and treat her differently because she was a girl got her so mad, especially since she would be of age soon. How was she supposed to function as an adult in the Wizarding community if her father thought he had the right to tell her what to do?

"Rose," Her mother said, in a placating manner, "Though I agree with every point you've made, and I _will _be talking to both Ronald and Hugo later this evening about a certain _event_ that seems to have escaped my notice, I do have something to say. Though Scorpius Malfoy -from what I've observed at the wedding- seems like a very nice boy, you can't take any form of relationship with him lightly. There are certain complications between Weasleys and Malfoys that can't be overlooked, Rose..."

Rose had honestly never felt so angry before, even though she understood where her mother was coming from. Why did everyone always have to bring up the past, as if it was some sort of monumental reason to stop her from being near her friend? Why did they think it would matter to her? People were so quick to badmouth Scorpius, even though he hadn't really done anything to deserve it. She was reminded of the time that she'd found him hurt, and although she was happy to say that her family had had nothing to do with it -and that her cousins, at least, thought that he was a decent guy in principle- she hated to admit that this was more complicated than any normal situation.

She wasn't even sure how much she actually liked Scorpius. After all, it had only been a snog. A brilliant snog, but a snog none-the-less, and wasn't like she was about to jump into relationship with him. Everyone was acting like they were about to get married or something, even though Rose was almost entirely sure that Scorpius had only snogged her to create some entertainment for himself at an otherwise Malfoy [un]friendly event.

She may have been unsure about what she had -and what she wanted, in fact- with Scorpius, but all the negativity people had shed about this kiss that they'd shared only made her feel more determined to utilise as many broom cupboards as possible. She wanted to show her family that they could no longer tell her what to do, even if her mother's words did echo ominously through her mind...

* * *

Rose sighed as she sat at the breakfast table. It had been a while since the arguments she'd had with her various family members, and although they'd all (read: Hugo and her father- her mother had never stopped talking to her in the first place, bless her) started talking to her again, the manner in which they did was more out of necessity, than want. Neither had forgiven her -even though Rose believed she hadn't done anything that required their forgiveness at all- and Rose had been unwilling to return the favour, as long as they believed they had any sort of control over what she did.

They were a stubborn lot, which had unfortunately caused many an awful breakfast ever since. If they weren't sitting in silence, they weren't all sitting there at all. And so, on one fine August morning, Rose found herself sitting alone, chewing absently on a piece of buttered toast. Mr. Cat was sat by her mug of coffee, paw poised over page two of the Daily Prophet, obviously impatient to get to the business section to drown herself in inflation rates and the value of the galleon.

Rose perused the pages, but found that it was difficult to carry on and not acknowledge the disappearances that had started to be published (though, of course, they weren't on the cover page. It seemed this information was not something they were happy to leak). She could only guess that her Aunt had gotten through to the Daily Prophet somehow, as Rose saw not only distressing number of them (53 shockingly similar cases erupting over the past 20 years), but also the fact that they were men. All were married. Some had children. She even recognized some of the surnames from her school.

The whole thing seemed so sad, to Rose.

She had felt as if everything was so horrible lately, but she realised now that it could be so much worse. She wasn't going to forgive her male relatives, of course. But at the same time, with the knowledge that a magical beast could up and take her father from her at any moment...

A soft screech caught her attention, and Rose looked up to find Cow poised outside her window, mail in beak. Rose turned the Prophet to the business section for Mr. Cat, as she wasn't comfortable with reading any more depressing news, and made her way over to the window. She pulled it open, and let the tawny owl in.

In all honesty, Rose could have fainted at the sight of the letter attached to Cow's leg. She'd been so preoccupied with other things lately that she hadn't even thought about the possibility of her OWL results.

She felt like there were thestrals trampling in her gut, and the air seemed to have left the room, but she tore open the letter with her finger anyway. She took a deep breath as she unfolded the parchment, scared that she'd messed everything up, that she hadn't gotten the results that Professor Longbottom had told her in her career counseling session if she wanted to become a professional in the field of magical creatures

However, as Rose examined her results, she felt silly at her reaction. In fact, her feelings had almost flipped entirely at what she saw before her- the very results that clearly reflected her Ravenclaw nature. She felt happy, she felt relieved, but mostly, she felt proud.

Because, although she'd had to deal with a lot of rubbish, which had left her feeling down, it seemed that very thing that could cheer her up was what she had been working for all year.

Rose had gotten all O's.

"_MUM!_" She called in excitement, "My OWL results are in!"

And although there was a strict 'No apparition in the house' rule, her mother had clearly broken it with a loud _CRACK!_ to get to the kitchen as fast as she could.

* * *

**A/N: It was a shorter chapter today, and I'm super sorry about that. But I have like, 4 massive Uni assignments due in 2 weeks time. On top of that, my birthday's coming up (as well as a few others) which has decreased the amount of time I have with parties and such. Therefore, I really can't be sure when the next chapter will be up, and I'm super sorry about this! JUST STAY STRONG, GUYS!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sweet Jesus, just over 100 reviews already! Thank you again to everyone who's taken the time to tell me how lovely/rubbish my writing has been. I'll try to modify my writing in response to your criticisms as much as I can, but don't kill me if it isn't perfect *eek*. Anyway, I apologise for the long wait. I've powered through a fair few Uni assignments, but I still have a million to go. Therefore, I'm not sure when the next one will be, either. ENJOY!**

* * *

_Previously;_

Rose had gotten all O's.

"_MUM!_" She called in excitement, "My OWL results are in!"

And although there was a strict 'No apparition in the house' rule, her mother had clearly broken it with a loud _CRACK!_ to get to the kitchen as fast as she could.

* * *

_6th Year, Part II_

Rose could not believe him.

She had understood why he hadn't contacted her for the two months preceding the wedding. That was a no-brainer, considering it was still the Summer holidays, and neither of them had known each other's address. They'd never bothered with letters during their odd friendship, either. But now, one month into their sixth year at Hogwarts, she still hadn't even heard a word from him. She only ever saw him in classes, and on the other side of the great hall during meals, but even then he never acknowledged her.

It had been 3 months since their kiss, and Rose Weasley felt like an utter twat. She'd swooned, she'd defended him from her family, and she'd even thought of all the things she'd say to him at the start of the year. But he'd manipulated her for entertainment, and she'd been pathetic enough to believe it. It all brought her back to the very words he'd told her back in their very first year: _"You should be careful, Weasley. Bad people take advantage of __nice__ girls like you."_

Maybe he'd planned it all along, or maybe she was just being dramatic. Either way, she felt off, and she must have looked it too.

"What's the matter with you, Rosie-roo?" Albus sat down beside her on the grass, and nudged her shoulder with his, "I haven't seen you this down since James really put the 'pop' into your dragon pop-up book that one time."

Despite herself, Rose giggled, albeit weakly. That had been her favourite book that her Uncle Charlie had gotten her for her 5th birthday, and its demise under the hands of a certain Potter had deeply scarred her.

"Nothing." She replied, adamant not to let her time with her cousin, -who had up until recently been ignoring her- go to waste because of a certain blonde boy, "I just miss Train Guy, you know?"

Ever since the two cousins had started taking the trains at Kings Cross to get to various family members house's on their quest for independence, they'd come across a fair few colorful characters. One of whom was a rather old man in cerulean spandex, who really hadn't understood that some private activities really ought to be left at home, as opposed to one of the train's compartments. He'd told them some really swell things about his glory days, though, and his advice was always insightful.

"Oh, yeah. I can't believe they finally charged him for indecent exposure," Albus frowned, equally deflated by the topic "I really liked that guy."

"Yeah," Rose sighed, "But maybe it was a good thing, you know? I don't think those kids will ever want to go on a field trip again."

The two paused for a second, before sharing a look that got their bodies shaking with laughter. They were cousins, and old friends that had drifted apart over the years, but no matter how many new people she met, nobody could quite come close to what she had with Albus. It was times like this that she realised how much she missed him.

"Okay," He sobered up, "Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about whatever's really getting you downer than the Cannons on the leader board."

Rose winced slightly. She really shouldn't have been stupid enough to think that poor excuse wouldn't have gone unnoticed by someone who'd gotten his PhD in Roseology at the age of nine. he could read her better than her own mother.

"Look, Al," She said, in a placating manner, "Not only is it stupid, but it makes me _feel_ stupid. You can imagine that I'd rather not talk about it."

"Look, Ro-Ro," Rose slapped his shoulder at the use of the nickname he made up for her back in his gangster phase, "I may not be a Ravenclaw, but I'm not thick. This is about Malfoy, isn't it?"

It sucked that he was so perceptive. Rose didn't say anything, but he took it as an affirmative, and didn't seem happy about it.

"Bloody hell, Rose. It's bad enough that you're upset over a guy, let alone a guy like him!" He said, his voice raised higher than before, but seeing the look on her face, he added with a weak chuckle "You don't need no man, Ro-Ro."

Rose felt a flicker of indignation, but squashed it down. However amusing that poorly executed last line was, it didn't make her feel any better. It was exactly what she'd been thinking of herself for the past month, and if her mother knew she was basing her happiness off a guy she barely even knew, she'd be getting the lecture of a life-time. She felt ashamed at how pathetic she was; how stupid, and now, how revoltingly mopey.

"Look, Rose. I'm not your dad -thank God- and Scorpius isn't really that bad a guy," Albus amended, "He's just not the right guy for you. Let the Pureblood girls fall over their family trees for him"

Rose had a million things she wanted to say to that, but none of them seemed right. Besides, she didn't want to think about this rubbish anymore.

"Shut up, Albusaurus," She muttered. He shoved her in response to the use of his embarrassing nickname, which Rose thought was awfully hypocritical considering the things he'd been calling her lately.

She threw a handful of grass at him in return, and he gasped in offense. She was about to remark about their immaturity, and how much she had missed doing this sort of thing with him, but she barely got the chance.

Albus' offended gasp had turned into a wicked grin as he picked up a fistful of sand, and Rose felt the familiar sensation of adrenaline and terror thicken in the pit of her gut. He feigned throwing the sand, and Rose squeaked before pulling herself up into a run, with Albus not far behind.

Rose Weasley ran across the vast, grassy grounds of Hogwarts, flailing her limbs as her favourite cousin trailed behind her. Bits of grass and sand clung to her hair, and she didn't doubt he was in a similar way (she'd gotten in quite a few good hits herself).

Rose found the cool air to be exhilarating as they ran, and they soon forget about their quest to get each other as dirty as possible. They merely loitered around the Black Lake, watching the Giant Squid wriggle its tentacles in the open air, as if to greet them. They talked about things that they hadn't been able to say during their distanced friendship.

Rose found out that Albus '_mayormaynothaveateenytinycrushonCelesteDunbar_', and that he and Lysander currently weren't talking to each other since Lysander cut their third Quidditch practice in a row to snog 5th year Hufflepuff, Bridgid Wimple, under the Quidditch stands.

Rose had no idea how long they spent together, but as the midday sun had dipped to meet the afternoon, neither of them had been willing to relent to the dimming sky. Going back into the castle would mean retreating back to their separate common rooms, with their different friends, and different problems, and neither of them wanted that just yet.

* * *

Much like your average Hogwarts student, Rose hated N.E.W.T subjects. She was always a hard worker, and sometimes she even enjoyed what she was learning, but with the workload she was already bombarded with at the beginning of her N.E.W.T. career, she really wasn't sure how she was going to survive.

3 students had already been reported to the infirmary sure to stress related illness, and Rose was determined not to be one of them. Some people might call her a stick-in-the-mud (namely Lysander, with a touch of Albus), but she was adamant that she must remain on top of all her work if she wanted to remain sane. Luckily, Lenore and Lorcan seemed to be of a similar mindset (or maybe their inner Ravenclaws were all shining through), and so together, they joined Louis at a study table in the Library.

"Hey, Rose," Louis greeted her as he resurfaced from his N.E.W.T Transfiguration textbook "How's everything with Prince Charming?"

Rose rolled her eyes, and threw a piece of his balled up parchment at him. She looked around to note that Lenore and Lorcan were snuggled close, probably whispering sweet nothings about Moon Frogs and Cauldron Cakes, and nobody else appeared to be around. She lowered her voice, anyway.

"It's not going, and it never had been," She hadn't dwelt too much on the topic of Scorpius for the past month or so, and she'd been feeling good. Even Louis bringing him up didn't even bother her so much. She mostly felt as if he was some sort of distant dream.

"Oh, really? What a shame, my mother thought he looked quite fit at the wedding..." Louis whispered.

She scoffed at his words, then hid a smile behind her hand. They bother knew he wasn't talking about his mother at all.

"...And you had such great chemistry" He continued, and fluttered his eyelashes for emphasis. Rose was over the topic, but she felt as if everyone seemed to have something to say about. Merlin, in sucked that the Weasley genes bypassed heredity, but took every stop between nosiness and indignant outrage.

She supposed she could complain all she wanted about it, but in the end, she was basically the poster-girl for the Weasley family.

"Hmm, so where's your chemistry then, gay-boy?" She grinned at him, and his lips twitched into a smile at the last word.

Louis was interesting in that although he wasn't ready to fully out himself to everyone just yet, he preferred her making little jabs like that. She supposed it made him feel better, as opposed to her tip-toeing around the issue, or that maybe if they didn't take it seriously, it stopped it from being real...

Louis shook his head in response to her.

"Not really," He muttered, closing his textbook, and gathering up another one, "But I thought I'd join the Quidditch team this year. Nothing like a good bum in a tailored uniform."

Rose shook her head silently, suddenly understanding the reasoning behind his position on their reserved team.

She had to admit, though, that there were quite a few good derriere's out on the pitch. There was one in particular that she didn't really want to linger on, and so she decided to peruse the Library's aisles to try and find a more comprehensive account on Golpolatt's Third Law. It was a difficult concept that Rose could recite, but not quite create a deeper understanding of.

As she walked down the centre aisle, looking left and right at the labels for the thousands of large shelves that ran across the span of the room _(Invisibility Section, Dragon Section_ -she paused at this one-, _Legal Section...)_ she heard a rather odd sound coming from further down.

She hesitated (for her genes towards nosiness and her moral compass were pointing in two different directions), but eventually decided to move towards the source. After all, whatever it was would allow her to procrastinate a touch more on her workload.

She peered past the shelf that housed whoever was there, and almost recoiled at what she saw. Before her stood two of the last people she wanted to see, and Rose cursed her luck for being susceptible to situations such as these.

Holly Zeller, back pressed somewhat uncomfortably against the bookshelf behind her, had two pale legs wrapped securely around the waist of a male, of whom was indisputably one Scorpius Malfoy. His hands up her askew shirt, her lips on his neck...completely and utterly entwined...

_She should leave_, her introverted self argued, _she really should. _But the newer, stronger part of Rose, the one who wanted to prove to the world that she wasn't a woman to be tread upon like a 'Welcome Home' doormat, decided to resist.

"You know," She started, and the two of them broke apart at the sound of her voice, "Some people might frown upon shagging in the Library."

She took secret pleasure in their gaping expressions, and smiled despite the twinge in her gut. It was important to get across the message that what she just saw did not affect her on a personal level, even if it did. She wasn't about to give anyone the satisfaction.

She let them right their hair and clothing before she continued.

"You're lucky I didn't take points off Slytherin for that unexpected entertainment."

Holly looked like she wanted to defend herself, but ended up moving her mouth soundlessly, too mortified to form words. She scurried off, patting down her hair in an attempt to further rectify her appearance, leaving her and Scorpius entirely alone for the first time since the Wedding.

In the following silence, Rose folded her arms across her chest and examined the spines of the books closest to her. It appeared she was trapped in the _Glamour Charms_ Section. Brilliant. Maybe she could reward herself for this horrid situation later by imagining how many of these books she could throw at his head before his face would need a few good glamour charms itself.

Scorpius cleared his throat, and Rose slowly turned towards him. He opened his mouth to say something, but Rose got there first.

"Well?" She asked, "Don't I deserve a thank you?"

"A thank you?" The blonde scoffed, "For what? Interrupting us?"

Rose felt a shattering ball of anger spitting in her gut.

"No," She hissed, "For not taking points, or alerting Pince, but you know what, you arrogant rat?"

She paused, meeting his mildly astonished eyes.

"50 points from Slytherin for inappropriate conduct, defacing library property-" She gestured towards the crinkled pages and askew books that must have resulted from the heat of passion, "-and _lack. of. manners_!"

She swiveled on the spot, head held high, and continued where she left off down the aisle.

After all, Scorpius would always be a jerk, but Golpalott's Third Law wasn't going to understand itself.

* * *

**By the way, I'd also like to give an honourable mention to one of my friends for getting me a sweet pair of underwear with "Draco, I'll be your Dumblewhore" on the back for my birthday. I may or may not be wearing them right now for inspiration.**

**Drop me a review? A follow? A favourite?**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Holy balls, guys, I'm so sorry for the wait. Even though the next couple of updates might take a while to crunch out, and might be shorter than expected, I promise this story won't be forgotten or unfinished! And thanks once again for the awesome support through reviews, follows, and favourites!**

* * *

_Previously:_

She paused, meeting his mildly astonished eyes.

"50 points from Slytherin for inappropriate conduct, defacing library property-" She gestured towards the crinkled pages and askew books that must have resulted from the heat of passion, "-and _lack. of. manners_!"

She swiveled on the spot, head held high, and continued where she left off down the aisle.

After all, Scorpius would always be a jerk, but Golpalott's Third Law wasn't going to understand itself.

* * *

_6th Year; Part III_

Rose would have to say that she was fairly proud of herself. Another month had gone by, and she had been so loaded with NEWT homework, quidditch practice, and prefect duties, that she'd barely spared any brain space to so much as bat an eye towards the always irritating Malfoy boy, let alone dwell on what happened in the library.

_In fact_, Rose thought, _she_ _couldn't really care less_. One snog at a wedding meant nothing, and it wasn't as if anything could come out of it anyway.

Rose leant over and grasped the handle of her broom, and tugged it from under her bed. She'd just finished her 34 inch essay on troll migration patterns, and was keen to get out of her dorm room for what felt like the first time in a century. Quidditch practice wasn't for another 2 hours, but Rose couldn't think of anything better than to get a breath of fresh air.

Rose made her way out of her dorm -past Louis, who looked a little too glad to be showing a 5th year boy the correct wand movements- and out of the common room. As she descended Ravenclaw tower, she couldn't help but notice her two closest friends -Lenore and Lorcan, of course- tangled up next to a portrait of the late Professor Mordicus Egg, a well-loved muggle-studies teacher of his day. He looked just as uncomfortable as Rose felt. Honestly, the two had been together for so long that Rose should've been used to it by now.

Lost in her thoughts, Rose hadn't noticed the figure that had slipped in next to her until he spoke.

"Heading to the pitch, eh?" Rose jumped about a mile in the air. Rose turned to the boy with a glare.

"Sod off, Lysander!" She slapped his shoulder, mortified that he'd managed to scare her so easily, "You shouldn't do that to people!"

He merely laughed.

"It's not my fault you're such a baby," He argued, with a grin on his face, "Besides, if I'd known earlier how jumpy you are, I would've done this more often."

"Oh, go away," Rose grumbled, not liking being made fun of, "I was in such a good mood before you came along."

By this time, they'd made it out of the castle, and Rose had tightened her grip on her broom. It hadn't occurred to her until now that he was following her to her destination. She noticed for the first time that she wasn't the only one with her broom.

"Oh, come on Rosie, don't be like that-"

"Are you flying?" She interrupted, eyeing the firebolt strapped to his back.

"No, I believe the muggles call this one 'walking', but-"

"Oh, don't play smart with me, Ly!" She rolled her eyes, " You know I meant if you were going to be using the pitch!"

"Well, in that case, yes," He begun, "I saw you with your broom, and I thought you looked terrible lonely by yourself.."

"...So you decided to keep me company?" She asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yep." He grinned, but remained silent after that.

Rose couldn't help but give him a skeptical look. This was not typical Lysander behaviour. The thing was, Lorcan and Lysander were twins that were almost always lost in their own worlds, although their worlds couldn't be any more different. While Lorcan was often consumed with Lenore and their bizarre magical creatures, Lysander often found himself buried in his own arrogance, and whichever girl he fancied that week.

He was remarkably like both Scorpius and Tiberius in that way, and so it wasn't difficult to imagine how doubtful it was that Lysander could actually remove his head from his bum for long enough to care about somebody else. Not that he was a bad guy, exactly. Just an oblivious, if not slightly revolting one.

Rose decided to ask the only question that could possible make sense of the situation.

"You aren't trying to sneak a peek at my quidditch skills, are you?"

"Surely you aren't suggesting that I'd play so underhandedly." He frowned at her, looking genuinely offended, "I'm not Slytherin, Rosie."

Rose bristled slightly, "Slytherins aren't always that bad, you know." She countered, although she wasn't sure why.

The only Slytherin she'd ever really defended before was someone she had shoved out of her mind for a while, and even though she knew what she said was true, Lysander was so anti-Slytherin that it was pointless anyway. Her pointed was when he snorted at the comment.

"Besides," He said, "It's not like I haven't seen you play every Christmas. I know your moves better than the back of my hand."

Rose couldn't help but grin slightly. She probably shouldn't have been happy that the Gryffindor team knew how she worked on the quidditch, but she was, because it went both ways. After all, with most of the people on their team being regulars at their Christmas gatherings, Rose was able to supply some information which had aided them in reaching the top of the ladder many times. However, he did have a point, and Rose frowned slightly.

"Well, maybe you're just using me as an excuse to stick around for our quidditch practice, then." She grinned triumphantly.

"Wrong again, Rosie-roo," He smirked at her, and she was struck by how familiar that expression was, "If I wanted to know the inner workings of your team, I would just snog it out of that rather lovely seeker of yours. She seems quite taken with me. Why, last time we barely made it out of the quidditch stands before she-"

"Alright!" She cut Lysander off, "I get it! You've finally realised the light is not, in fact, shining out of your own arse-"

"-Well, of course not," He interrupted her with a sly grin, "Why, you're all the light I need, my lo-"

"Alright, I'm done." Rose flung her broom between her legs, and pushed off the ground. That boy had been an idiot since they were in nappies, and even as she flew away from him, with the wind whipping in her ears, she could hear him yell _'never let anyone dull your sparkle, my sun!'._

And really, she couldn't help but laugh, because he was an arse, within an arse, within an arse, but she'd known him forever. And who knows, maybe with this new attitude of his, he would be demoted to only one cheek.

* * *

Lysander hadn't left her alone as she'd hoped, but rather roped her into a bit of one-on-one quidditch, and she had to admit, it was kind of fun. She'd wanted to get away from her dorm, her studies, and most importantly, her thoughts, and Lysander was the perfect guy to do that.

Once again, Rose felt a thread of guilt knot her stomach. It was true that Albus had always been closer to Lysander, in the same way that Rose had been closer to Lorcan, but that didn't mean that Rose and Lysander weren't close once. There was a time, before Hogwarts, that the four of them had been the best of friends -absolutely inseparable, they were- and although Rose knew that it was a part of the natural order of life to become more distanced from some, she couldn't help but feel horrible about it.

It shouldn't have been weird to her that Lysander was being nice; that he wanted to spend time with her the way that they used to. But it kind of was, and Rose resolved that she'd try to spend more time with Lysander, in the same way that she had decided to with Albus. Maybe she could even rope Lorcan into it too, like old times.

Rose pondered this as she dismounted her broom, and headed towards the stands. Lysander gave her a wave as he made his way back towards the castle, and Rose managed to return one as she took a break from her flying. She had 15 minutes until the rest of her team would show up, and she didn't want to start practice out of breath.

Rose had just started scratching away at some of the grime on her broom handle, when a voice off to the left startled it out of her hands.

"Getting cosy now with Scamander, are you?" Drawled the all too familiar blonde boy sat in the stands, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a thing for blondes."

Rose, riled up from being startled for the second time that day, was about to clarify that _there was nothing going on between her and Lysander, thank you very much_. However, she managed to stop herself at the last second. What did he care, anyway? All they had done was shared a nice little snog -which meant nothing, if you didn't already know- so what consequence was it to him? He seemed fine with snogging other people after it, so why couldn't _she_?

Therefore, Rose merely gave him a polite -if not slightly tight- smile, and picked her broom back up from where she'd dropped it.

"Well, he is rather sweet." She replied, pretending to consider what he'd said, "And I hear he's pretty good at handling a snitch, if you know what I mean."

Rose looked over at him from the corner of her eye, and watched his face twitch. It was oddly satisfying to watch, after that whole fiasco in the library. There might not have actually been anything going on between her and Lysander, but messing with Scorpius was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

"So, what, are you guys a thing now?" He asked, his tone measured. Rose hid her grin behind her hair.

"It really isn't any of your business," She replied, drawing out the moment, "But I guess you'll find out soon enough."

Scorpius remained silent after that, though Rose couldn't really pin-point why. She wasn't even entirely sure whether it bothered him or not. However, as Rose caught a glimpse of him between her curtain of hair, she couldn't help but notice he looked a paler than usual. His hair was a mess -and not even in its usual artfully messy way- and there were dark circles under his eyes. She couldn't help but think that he was either going for some sort of smokey-eyed gothic look, or there was something she was missing.

She cleared her throat, and tried to think of something to say. She was dying to enquire about his unusually disheveled state, but she couldn't think of a way to word her question that would not ruin the devil may care attitude that she was desperately trying to maintain.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" She asked, after she decided the question was casual enough. I mean, he was out there whilst she was flying. It wasn't weird to ask why somebody was sitting on their own and watching, right?

Scorpius stiffened slightly at the question, and Rose thought he looked like he was about to be sick. She shifted slightly away from him. He wasn't particularly close to her, but Rose had an odd fear of vomit, and she wasn't keen on getting her quidditch robes stained.

"What do you mean?" He asked, carefully, avoiding her gaze.

"I mean, why are you sitting out here, on the quidditch stands, on your own." She clarified, as he stared straight ahead. He was acting so odd. So...not cocky. Nor smirky.

"I just- I needed to think." He murmured, and picked at the hem of his robes.

Rose, not sure what to say to that, stayed silent. It remained that way until she spotted the familiar blue and bronze figures wondering towards the pitch below them, making a ruckus. Rose stood up, and dusted off her robes.

"Well, I'm off," She said, and turned to leave. As she walked away, however, Scorpius' words stopped her in her tracks.

"They can't find my dad." He blurted.

Rose froze where she stood, eyes feeling of dread washed through her like a bucket of ice.

"What?" She asked, fear evident in her voice.

"My dad," He repeated, voice faint, "He's missing."

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUN! Sorry for the wait ladies and gents, and also sorry if there's spelling mistakes/it doesn't flow well. I may or may not have cocktail or two in my system right now, which doesn't really bode well with editing, but oh well! Review if you loved it/hated it/want to kill me for not updating in ages. Ciao for now!**


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